Iran Focus
London, 12 Sep – Oil prices soared on Tuesday as US sanctions put increased pressure on Iranian crude exports, which restricted global supply despite the US’s efforts to get other oil-producing countries to increase their output.
This resulted in Brent crude oil rising to $77.88 a barrel (up 51 cents) and US light crude rising to $67.71 a barrel (up 16 cents).
Tamas Varga, an analyst at London brokerage PVM Oil said: “The impact of the U.S. sanctions on Iran is firmly being felt.”
Iran Focus
London, 11 Sep – Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad advocated for an ambitious housing project that has become a problem for Rouhani and his cabinet. In fact, Rouhani had singled out Mehr Housing project as being a major hurdle to Iran’s already faltering economy, in a televised speech that marked his first 100 days in office.
On Sunday, the deputy minister of Roads and Urban Development said that there are still 200,000 half-built Mehr Housing units across the country, with no buyers for at least 100,000 units. Ahmad Asghari Mehrabadi said that government hopes to encourage people to buy the units by removing any conditions or hurdles to applying for the ownership of the units.
Iran Focus
London, 11 Sep – Iran’s meddling in Iraq is making the Iraqi people extremely angry. The people have been protesting against Iran’s interference for months and it was reported last week that Iraqi protesters had set the Iranian consulate in Basra on fire.
The protesters in the Shia Muslim-majority city called on their government to get rid of the Iranian influence from their government and they made their anger heard loud and clear. They are angry about the lack of safe drinking water, the lack of jobs and the lack of electricity, amongst other things. Tens of thousands of people in the city have been hospitalised after drinking contaminated water.
Iran Focus
London, 11 Sep – Late last week, market participants said that with US sanctions on Iranian crude going into effect shortly, loadings from Iran are still ongoing, and some shipping companies view it as an opportunity to get hefty premiums.
A chartering executive in Houston said, “Iranian crude loadings for export will continue even after the US sanctions are fully implemented. It will not stop completely. Somehow companies will manage to [ship out].” He added that new companies with no connection to the US banking, insurance, or currency systems might be created to continue Iran-related businesses without contravening US laws.
Iran Focus
London, 11 Sep – On Monday, oil prices rose as U.S. drilling stalled and new U.S. sanctions against Iran’s crude exports are set to go into effect in November. Experiencing a jump to $1.09 a barrel, Brent crude oil reached a high of $77.92. U.S. light crude jumped to $68.30 a barrel.
Harry Tchilinguirian, oil strategist at French bank BNP Paribas said, “A higher oil price scenario is built on lower exports from Iran due to U.S. sanctions, capped U.S. shale output growth, instability in production in countries like Libya and Venezuela and no material negative impact from a U.S./China trade war on oil demand in the next 6-9 months.” He told Reuters Global Oil Forum, “We see Brent trading above $80 under (that) scenario.”
Iran Focus
London, 10 Sep – The Iranian consulate in Basra, Iraq, was set fire to by anti-government protesters on Friday, shouting “Iran, Out”, after a week of demonstrations in the southern city turned violent.
Despite the 100+ degrees Fahrenheit temperatures, protesters were calling for an end to Iranian influence in the country, criticising the Iraqi government’s dysfunction, and demanding more jobs and better public services.
Thousands of residents in the oil-rich region are living in poverty, have grown sick from contaminated water, and have suffered power outages.
Iran Focus
London, 10 Sep – As Donald Trump continues to increase pressure on Iran ahead of the incoming November sanctions on Iranian oil, most recently by scheduling a UN Security Council meeting on Iran for later this month, global oil markets have gone into overdrive.
At the meeting, Trump is likely to address the problems he sees with Iran, including terrorism, regional interference, and human rights abuses, while outlining the need for the other UNSC members to join in with his sanctions against Iran.
In response to this, Iran has resorted to its traditional threats of closing off the Hormuz Strait, where a third of global oil exports pass through, which could well lead to higher oil prices.
Iran Focus
London, 10 Sep – Iran’s seven-month jailing of seven Dervish women under harsh conditions near Tehran is in violation of national prison regulations, according to an exiled Iranian Dervish rights activist, Alireza Roshan.
The Turkey-based member of Iran’s Gonabadi Dervish religious minority said in an interview on Tuesday, “The situation of the women in Qarchak prison is appalling.”
Roshan is a writer and poet, as well as an editor of Majzooban Noor, a news outlet that covers Iran’s Dervish community. He added, “The Dervish women are weak physically after having been beaten before and after their transfer to the prison. But prison officials are not allowing them to receive needed medical treatment.”
Iran Focus
London, 10 Sep – The Iran nuclear deal’s implementation in 2015 lifted many international sanctions on the country. Iranian airlines were happy for the opportunity to renew their fleets. Orders were placed for tens of billions of dollars’ worth of new aircraft.
Contracts were signed with Boeing, Airbus, and ATR. Only a few of the 300 planes that were ordered were delivered, however, when US President Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions. New deliveries dwindled, as did the ability to buy spare parts. As new U.S. sanctions go into effect, Iran’s airlines are forced to patch up their aging planes instead of using newer models.
Iran Focus
London, 7 Sep – Smuggling fuel is on the increase as prices soar inside and outside the country.
Iran’s rial has plummeted to a record-breaking 140,000 against the U.S. dollar. The rial has lost about 72% of its value since September 2017, but subsidized fuel prices remained unchanged.
Today, gasoline prices in Iran are approximately 10 cents per liter, while in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey, and Iraq gasoline is six to 10 times more expensive. Smuggling gasoline is therefore quite lucrative.
