101: Chapter 101 This is a windfall!

After concluding negotiations with Major General Zaha, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Mahad brought the oil and natural gas leasing agreement to Commander-in-Chief Qasim for review.

"Commander-in-Chief, this oil and natural gas leasing agreement involves leasing 200 million barrels of oil and 50 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Syria, to be paid out over three years," Deputy Commander-in-Chief Mahad said, summarizing the overall terms of the oil and natural gas lease.

Commander-in-Chief Qasim had no reaction and felt nothing about this amount of leased oil and natural gas.

Iran's daily oil production exceeded 4.6 million barrels, with an annual output reaching 1.3 billion barrels.

A mere 200 million barrels of oil was nothing at all.

Similarly, the annual production of natural gas reached 257 billion cubic meters; even if the entire 50 billion cubic meters were paid to Syria in a single year, it would have no impact on Iran.

Moreover, Iran could increase its natural gas production; the main reason it didn't was simply due to a lack of sales.

Now, with this 200 million barrels of oil and 50 billion cubic meters of natural gas being paid to Syria over three years, it was even less of an issue.

"The amount of leased oil and natural gas is not a problem; Iran can pay it to Syria," Commander-in-Chief Qasim said indifferently.

Deputy Commander-in-Chief Mahad then reported to Commander-in-Chief Qasim regarding the installment plan for the oil payments and the deadlines for returning the oil, among other details.

After listening carefully, Commander-in-Chief Qasim said, "This oil and natural gas leasing agreement is generally fine, and you can sign the agreement with Syria. For the subsequent implementation, you can just communicate with Colonel Suman."

Deputy Commander-in-Chief Mahad did not expect to get Commander-in-Chief Qasim's approval so easily. He paused for a moment and said, "Then, once Syria gives its domestic approval, I will sign the agreement?"

"Just go and sign it," Commander-in-Chief Qasim said, not wanting to get involved.

Seeing that Commander-in-Chief Qasim truly had no objections, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Mahad straightforwardly took on the responsibility of signing the agreement with Major General Zaha.

However, after Major General Zaha reported to General Faraj, there was no result so quickly.

After all, the Persian Lion State National Guard directly controlled many of Iran's oil fields, and the oil companies they controlled could provide 200 million barrels of oil and 50 billion cubic meters of natural gas without needing approval from the Iranian government.

But for the Syrian military to lease such a large scale of oil and natural gas, although the government might not raise any objections, the necessary procedures still had to be completed.

The USA's airstrikes had significantly simplified the procedures for the Syrian government, and General Faraj had also received approval to sign the oil and natural gas leasing agreement.

Upon receiving the news, Major General Zaha immediately contacted Deputy Commander-in-Chief Mahad.

"Deputy Commander-in-Chief Mahad, Syria has agreed to sign the oil and natural gas leasing agreement. When can we sign it?" Major General Zaha asked eagerly.

"There are no more issues on your end?" Deputy Commander-in-Chief Mahad asked, somewhat curious.

"There shouldn't be any issues. The senior military leadership has been authorized to sign the oil and natural gas leasing agreement."

"Then let's have both sides sign the oil and natural gas leasing agreement tomorrow morning," Deputy Commander-in-Chief Mahad decided immediately.

"Good. I will come to sign the agreement then," Major General Zaha replied immediately.

Lieutenant Colonel Haidari and Colonel Suman received the news one after another that the oil and natural gas leasing agreement between Syria and Iran was about to be signed.

They were both very happy.

Lieutenant Colonel Haidari felt as if he could see hundreds of millions of dollars in intermediary fees flying into his hands, while Colonel Suman was full of anticipation for the $800,000 he was about to receive.

This was an unexpected windfall.

Just by speaking a few words, he had obtained $800,000.

Colonel Suman guessed that Lieutenant Colonel Haidari might have received even more funds, but he had no intention of digging deeper.

As long as the money that was supposed to be his ended up in his hands, that was enough.

The signing process the next day was very simple, and neither side intended to make a big fuss about it.

After Deputy Commander-in-Chief Mahad and Major General Zaha finished signing the oil and natural gas leasing agreement, the oil and natural gas lease between Syria and Iran was considered finalized.

"Deputy Commander-in-Chief Mahad, when can the 15 million barrels of oil and 2 billion cubic meters of natural gas to be paid within one month be completed?" Major General Zaha asked immediately after signing the agreement.

"Is it that urgent? We just signed the agreement," Deputy Commander-in-Chief Mahad said, somewhat puzzled.

"The USA is launching airstrikes on Syria, and many of our military facilities have been bombed by the USA. We are thinking of using the paid oil and natural gas to purchase anti-aircraft missiles right now," Major General Zaha explained briefly.

"The USA is bombing Syria again?" Deputy Commander-in-Chief Mahad knew that the USA was stationed in Syria and wouldn't be quiet, but he hadn't expected the USA to be so fond of bombing.

"Yes, just recently, military facilities in many of our cities have been destroyed."

"I see. Regarding the delivery of oil and natural gas, you need to communicate with Colonel Suman. He is more familiar with the inventory of oil and natural gas and can quickly arrange the payment of oil and natural gas."

Deputy Commander-in-Chief Mahad did not actually have a grasp of the real-time inventory of oil and natural gas in Iran; at most, he could only receive relevant report materials periodically.

"Good. Then I will communicate with Colonel Suman."

Seeing that Deputy Commander-in-Chief Mahad had designated Colonel Suman to be in charge, Major General Zaha prepared to find Colonel Suman to follow up on the situation.

Lieutenant Colonel Haidari and Colonel Suman were also at the signing scene.

Lieutenant Colonel Haidari had clearly communicated with Colonel Suman that after this signing was over, the $800,000 would soon be paid into Colonel Suman's account.

Seeing that the $800,000 in funds was about to arrive, Colonel Suman was naturally quite happy.

When Major General Zaha found Colonel Suman, Colonel Suman was still feeling a bit buoyant.

"Colonel Suman, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Mahad just said that I need to communicate with you regarding the payment of oil and natural gas. I would like to ask, can the oil and natural gas to be paid within one month be paid as soon as possible?" Major General Zaha asked quickly.

"How much oil and natural gas is it?" Colonel Suman asked.

"15 million barrels of oil and 2 billion cubic meters of natural gas."

Hearing that the quantity was not much, Colonel Suman said, "We just paid 70 million barrels of oil, so these 15 million barrels of oil might take three to five days to be gathered. As for the 2 billion cubic meters of natural gas, it can be paid at any time."

Three to five days? The time was not long.

Major General Zaha still needed to negotiate with arms dealers regarding the procurement of the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile, so this timing was just right.

"Then, after you have gathered the oil, I will contact you to arrange the payment of the oil and natural gas."

"Alright. I will communicate with you then."

Colonel Suman had already received orders to cooperate with Syria to complete the payment of the leased oil and natural gas, so he naturally would not set up any obstacles.