Oil and the staggering greed it inspires has led to war profiteering in Iraq by the likes of Halliburton, and oil has now added a less sinister but certainly interesting new dimension to the events in the Middle East: Japan has signed a deal with Iran to develop the oil field in Azadegan.

As a tiny but energy-hungry island nation, Japan relies heavily on imports; oil — eighty-eight percent of which it imports from the Middle East — supplies half of the nation’s energy. After three years of negotiations, Japan has won access to the estimated twenty-six billion barrels of oil in Azadegan.  

Richard Boucher, spokesman for the U.S. State Department, stated that he was “disappointed,” by the deal that Japan has brokered with Iran.

Boucher may be rightfully suspicious of Iran, particularly in light of Iran’s recent admission that it purchased nuclear equipment from black market dealers. Iran insists it is using such devices for peaceful purposes, which may or may not be true. Only last year, Iran admitted that it had been concealing its nuclear activities for years. However, a deal of this magnitude certainly adds an intriguing new facet to the world-wide scramble for oil. America, distrustful of Tehran and thirsty for oil, must confront the fact that a newly militarized Japan is now an important and very visible player in the region.  

Mimi Hanaoka