Hi...

Hi Guys

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ft/20060703/bs_ft/fto070320061305584996

I picked this article up from Tradem over on Sharescene. I presume that Rob is in Iran still but will be interesting to eventually see the impact of this decision. I like it for following reasons:

- expressed desire to join WTO means the opening of the Republic to the world (underway for a few years now) will continue and, as you say, suggests a positive response to the nuclear offer (but I would expect there will be further negotiation)
- 80% privatisation of most state assets means that the move away from nationalised assets is in fact picking up pace which further reduces sovereign risk issues for Mehdiabad, especially as it appears that oil/gas is the only commodity singled out for special treatment

For the interim this leads me to also speculate that perhaps the 80% privatisation will be a guideline for how much Impasco will choose to hold of MZC. This may heighten UCL's chances of getting majority ownership of the project. The relationship with UCL and Mehdiabad has been ground breaking since we were amongst the first movers when Iran first started opening up - hopefully we get to continue to build on that and benefit!!