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Iran Looking To Re-Establish Bosnian Presence
June 17, 2002
The Iranian energy firm Petropars plans to invest in oilfields in Bosnia in the near future, the company's managing director told the Persian daily Asia June 11. The paper reported that economic delegations from Bosnia and Herzegovina had met with Petropars officials already.
But such an arrangement appears odd, considering the dearth of hydrocarbon deposits in Bosnia and the fact that partially state-owned Petropars participates in few, if any, overseas activities. Instead, the deal appears to be a cover to allow large numbers of Iranians -- possibly intelligence agents -- to re-establish operations in the Balkans.
Petropars was set up in 1998 to serve as an intermediary between foreign companies and Iran's Oil Ministry in handling development work at the country's giant offshore South Pars gas field. Since 1997 it has mediated $7.5 billion in contracts between the National Iranian Oil Company and companies like Shell.
But Petropars has virtually no overseas projects and doesn't have a reason to be in Bosnia anyway. The country produces no oil or gas, and its underlying geology suggests few if any untapped reserves.
But Iran does have a history in Bosnia. Iranian intelligence agents -- known as the Pasdaran -- were stationed in Bosnia during the Balkan wars in the 1990s. Hundreds of Iranians fought with Bosnian Muslims in that time period, and Iranian arms shipments to Bosnia were credited with saving the government from collapse in April 1994 when Western weapons deliveries were blocked.
By November 1995 Washington made the removal of Iranian-backed foreign forces from Bosnia a central provision of the Dayton peace accords that ended the civil war. But elements remained, and the Pasdaran used Bosnia as base to support the Kosovo Liberation Army.
Many of these agents were withdrawn late last year when Iran's Supreme National Security Council tried to show solidarity with the U.S.-led campaign against Osama bin Laden, according to Western intelligence sources cited in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, a German daily.
But relations between Washington and Tehran have gone south over the past six months, and it appears as though Iran's intelligence services are trying to re-establish their presence in the Balkans.
The move comes at an opportune time for them, as the United States continues to look for an opportunity to redeploy its military force from the Balkans into other more pressing areas. NATO announced plans in early April to significantly reduce the number of peacekeeping troops in the Balkans beginning this summer. Various NATO sources estimate the 18,000-troop deployment in Bosnia-Herzegovina will be shaved by one-third, Agence France-Presse reported.
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Dan
Iran Looking To Re-Establish Bosnian Presence . . .