Iran�s officials have put out another assurance that Tehran can immediately export oil to Europe as soon as a comprehensive nuclear deal is signed with the 5+1 Powers.

Mohsen Qamsari, the director for international affairs of the National Iranian Oil Company,�said on Sunday that Iran can ship almost half of the supplies that it provided before the European Union barred any Iranian imports by its members in 2012.

Qamsari said spot deals will provide for the exports until European clients finish existing annual contracts.

Iranian State media have published daily declarations for weeks that Tehran will attract billions of dollars in foreign investment, as well as sharply increasing exports, when a nuclear deal is concluded.

Iran and the 5+1 Powers (US, Britain, France, Germany, China, and Russia) held their latest meeting in Vienna on Friday to discuss the final text of an agreement. Iran�s Deputy Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, and the European Union�s deputy foreign policy head Helga Schmid have led teams drafting the deal in hundreds of hours of sessions since late April.

Iran�s oil exports have been slashed by half, to about 1.1 to 1.2 million barrels per day, since 2012. Almost all of the exports go to four Asian countries: China, South Korea, India, and Japan.

Tehran�s oil production has fallen in the same period from more than 4 million bpd to about 2.7 million.



Journalist Samimi Released After Almost 6 Years in Prison
Journalist Keyvan Samimi�has been released�after almost six years in prison.

Samimi, the editor-in-chief of the banned newspaper Nameh, was arrested on June 13, 2009, the day after the disputed Presidential election. He was sentenced in February 2010 to six years and a lifetime ban on journalism for propaganda against the state, assembly and conspiracy to act against national security, participation in protests, and a statement questioning the outcome of the election.

He spent almost 120 days in solitary confinement for �crimes� such as photographs of his celebration, with fellow imprisoned journalist Masoud Bastani, celebrating the anniversary of the Green Movement.

By EA WorldView