Empire of the Ring

Chapter 703: Reopening of the Volga-Don Canal (3)

Iran had virtually no way out of the tight net of U.S. economic sanctions.

This was because the U.S. put the same standard on countries that did business with Iran.

However, the Iranian oil minister was saying that the U.S. overlooked Iran’s deal with the Caspian Sea and coastal countries.

From the U.S. perspective, the U.S. was trying to maintain its dialogue channel with Iran, and at the same time, used it as an opportunity to impress the Caspian Sea coastal countries.

When the U.S. had even laid out the route, there was no reason to refuse it. It would save both the U.S. and Iran’s faces if he proceeded with the Iranian oil deal.

There was a high possibility that the U.S. had encouraged the Iranian government to contact the Kazakh royal family to sell its oil.

Since brokerage fees for Iranian oil sales, oil tanker charges, and canal imports were guaranteed, Youngho was celebrating inside.

“Okay, we’ll dispose of your oil for you.”

When Youngho said he would receive Iranian oil, the oil minister took a step further.

“Your Highness, I’d like to deliver Iran’s crude oil by the BTC line, is that possible?”

It was an absurd idea. If the BTC line (a pipeline between Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey) was used for Iranian oil, there would not be any canal revenue.

“I don’t think that’s going to work. It will be impossible to persuade the Azerbaijani government. As you know, the majority shareholders of the BTC pipeline are Western multinationals, and we have to convince them. There can be a lot of complications.”

Bypass exports were meant to be handled quietly without a sound rumor, but using the BTC pipeline was bound to be rumored.

Then even the U.S. would not be able to let it go even if it wanted to.

As a result, the relations between the Caspian Sea and the U.S would worsen.

Of course, Youngho could try to fix it, but it did not seem to be a great gain for Kazakhstan.

However, the Iranian oil minister, Zangeneh, was still lingering.

“I heard there’s nothing you can’t do.”

“I don’t have the power to control the BTC pipeline. And Kazakhstan could be disadvantaged by the U.S. I can’t risk damaging Kazakhstan’s credit because of Iran.”

When Youngho went strong, Zangeneh also stepped back.

As of now, Kazakhstan was the only country that could dispose of Iran’s oil, and there was nothing good for making the Duke of Kazakhstan feel uncomfortable.

“I think I put you in trouble. I’m sorry for asking too much.”

“I’m sorry for not being active in helping our neighbor. Please understand the position of our country.”

“No, Your Highness. Just opening the way for our oil’s bypass exports is a great help.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

***

Shortly after the Iranian oil minister left, Youngho called Michael, the intelligence chief of the U.S.

It was to confirm what the Iranian minister said. Before taking any further steps, it would be safe to check the facts first.

And this time, he certainly needed to put the U.S. in debt.

This was because it was time to bring in more advanced U.S. weapons.

However, unlike Youngho had expected, Michael did not budge an inch.

-Duke. The United States never gets involved in the internal affairs of other countries.

It was a blunt lie.

“Of course you don’t. So even if we say Iranian oil is from Kazakhstan, you’re not going to argue.”

-Of course. I’m not in a position to control issues between countries. However, we have to pay close attention to countries that do business with rogue states.

Youngho was not sure whether Michael was encouraging or discouraging him from dealing with Iran.

“Chief, please don’t beat around the bush and just be honest with me.”

-I’m not in a position to offer an official statement. What are you trying to hear?

“There’s nothing the U.S. Intelligence Service doesn’t know.”

-It’s the job of the Ministry of State Affairs. How should I know?

If Michael responded this much, this meant that the intelligence service was not deeply involved in Iranian oil deals.

“Okay, then I won’t take any Iranian oil. I don’t want to go into anything unconfirmed.”

-Since when have you been so conscious of the United States? And there’s no reason for you to be wary about the U.S. for trades between the Caspian Sea countries. The U.S. is not free enough to interfere with such deals.

Michael was now indirectly implying that there would be no problem in dealing with Iranian oil.

This meant that the problem of dealing with Iranian oil was a sensitive issue.

It was evident that the U.S. was making a fuss over Iranian economic sanctions on the outside but was working hard to do behind-the-scenes deals.

“You’re saying you’re going to wash Iranian oil and export it through Kazakhstan. It feels like we’re being used.”

-Duke. Why are you acting like an innocent girl? It’s not like you don’t know about international relations. For Kazakhstan, it’s like blowing its nose without touching it, so just move on.

“Chief, then you owe me this time.”

-I owe you? It has nothing to do with us. In fact, you owe us for this.

“I haven’t even put in my bill for helping the U.S. Navy in the Indian Ocean yet, but it keeps piling up.”

-Hahaha…

At Youngho’s words, Michael broke into a laugh.

“Chief, it’s no laughing matter. We’re the only ones who will feel wrong if we just move on quietly now.”

-What’s the advantage of the U.S. for crossing Kazakhstan? It will only harm the national interest of the United States.

“So come up with an ensured safeguard. Otherwise, I won’t cooperate with this.”

As Youngho kept urging him to do so, Michael finally gave in.

-Duke, what the hell do you need that you are this persistent?

“I can’t believe you think I’m bothering you. I’m just saying I’m going to listen to the official U.S. position.”

-Okay, okay. Just tell me now. Let’s hear what you need.

The reason why the U.S. political circle chose Kazakhstan as Iran’s oil laundering window was that the two countries knew each other too well.

The U.S. pushed Iran’s back because Kazakhstan was an ally that would not turn its back on the U.S., and Youngho accepted the offer understanding it.

In this case, Michael would have been prepared for Youngho’s request for benefit in return.

What else would Kazakhstan need from the U.S. other than high-tech weapons?

The reason why Youngho was grilling Michael was the multi-purpose landing ship’s armament.

The multi-purpose landing ship, which was deployed in action this time, failed to function properly and served as a supply ship, so the plan was to build a proper helicopter carrier.

“You’re familiar with the deployment of a multi-purpose landing ship, aren’t you?”

-So?

“We don’t have any attack helicopters in Kazakhstan to deploy on the multi-purpose landing ship.”

-Isn’t it just a landing ship?

“It’s multi-purpose, but our goal is to make it a helicopter carrier.”

-Do you want the planes on our Navy’s Wasp-class ship?

“No, we don’t need such grand planes. We only need six Apache helicopters and three large-scale military helicopters.”

-The Apache helicopter again? Do you know how many Apache helicopters have been delivered to Kazakhstan?

“We only have about 60 of them.”

The power of 60 Apache helicopters was actually enormous.

A single Apache helicopter was powerful enough to destroy a division of the Army.

-Phew, I understand what you mean. I guess what you need more than helicopters is the know-how to operate the helicopter carrier.

“You’re the best. When you retire and come to Kazakhstan, you will receive the highest medal from the Kazakh royal family.”

-I should just live in America after retirement. I won’t be able to rest in my old age because of your fuss.

***

Iran was planning a pipeline all the way to Baku in Azerbaijan to diversify its oil exports, and in fact, pipeline construction was underway to parts of northern Iran.

This was because if it was connected to the BTC pipeline, the oil export routes were secured in a stable manner even if the Arabian Sea entered a tension-ridden situation.

However, the problem of connecting to the BTC line was realistically difficult due to the relationship with the U.S.

That was why it was working on a pipeline to the Caspian Sea to export oil through the Volga-Don Canal.

But there was another problem. The U.S. was imposing economic sanctions again, saying that Iran’s nuclear dismantlement program was not progressing.

Then the companies that were carrying out the construction stopped and pulled out, and Iran was trying to complete the construction on its own, but the construction had to slow down.

The construction cost of local builders was higher when the local workers’ capacity was lower than that of Southeast Asian workers.

Like most Middle Eastern countries, Iran had achieved economic growth with the power of huge oil dollars.

Until now, not only did the infrastructure of the country’s ports, airports, and roads, but even housing construction work was left to foreign construction companies.

Pipeline construction was also dependent on overseas construction companies and Southeast Asian workers, but the U.S. economic sanctions forced foreign companies to leave the country.

In a nutshell, Iran’s technological prowess had not been able to carry out high-level construction.

They wanted to export oil through the Caspian Sea, but they were frustrated because they could not connect domestic pipelines to the beach.

It was not a grand construction. All they needed was a simple graft to connect the pipeline to the sea and to allow the tanker to moor.

“Your Highness, Iran has requested the royal family to work on pipelines and access facilities.”

“Are you saying Iran is not capable of any construction?”

“There has been no Iranian company involved in the work that required technical skills. Even if it had the capacity to build a building, it was much more affordable to leave it to a foreign company.”

Youngho was dumbfounded.

It was a country that had nuclear weapons but did not have basic construction skills.

It had been leaving everything from oil drilling to production to foreign countries.

“Korean builders could have saved construction costs with their low-cost orders. Of course, it would have cost less than the original budget.”

“That’s right. There are a number of Korean companies that won low-cost orders but didn’t get paid in time.”

“Didn’t the Korean government charge the Iranian government for the construction?”

“No Korean regime in history has done such kindness.”

“But how do you know so well?”

“I have collected other companies’ cases when I worked for S Corporation because there were uncollected construction costs. There were a lot of builders that didn’t even get paid for the construction done in the ’90s.”

“They must have either gone bankrupt or given up on the construction.”

“Yes, they did. I think we should be careful because Iran could do that to us.”

“Do you think Iran can do that to us, too?”

“Is there any business that can overcome the continuous delay?”

“Do you think you can take Kazakhstan’s money and sleep with your legs stretched out?”

“Are you saying it’s okay if the diplomatic relationship gets worse for debt?”

“If Iran did that to us, it would have to give up the Caspian Sea. Not only that but also the northern part of the country where immigrants live.”

“…”

It was to help out a neighbor, but Youngho would have never come forward if there were no benefits to Kazakhstan.

But Iran delaying payment of construction costs was nonsense.

“If you want to rewrite Iran’s history, so be it.”

“Your Highness, I’d rather not take Iranian oil.”

When he heard what Youngho said, he looked very scared.

“Tap the calculator again and talk about how much we’re going to benefit from Iranian oil, you poor man.”