Iran Focus

London, 22 Sep – In May, Donald Trump pulled the US out of the 2015 nuclear between Iran and six world powers and sent the foreign-policy establishment into overdrive with opposition.

They warned that Trump’s promise to bring back sanctions – specifically on Iran’s oil exports – would fail because America’s allies and the other signatories to the nuclear deal would continue to do business with Iran. Then, as if they were dealing with Schrödinger’s sanctions, they said that if the sanctions worked, then the US would be dealing with increased oil prices that would bite the American people and possibly even cause a recession.

Iran Focus

London, 21 Sep – Oil refiners in Japan have temporarily suspended all loading from Iran ahead of incoming US sanctions, even though they are still trying to obtain a sanctions waiver from Washington, according to Takashi Tsukioka, the President of the Petroleum Association of Japan.

When asked whether refiners had suspended their Iranian oil loadings beyond October, Tsukioka told a press conference on Thursday: “I understand that each company’s position [over Iranian oil loadings] is the same, to have suspended them while monitoring the situation. The companies are also taking a flexible approach to be prepared to respond, depending on how the situation develops.”

Iran Focus

London, 21 Sep – On September 19th, British-Iranian dual nationals were advised against all but essential travel to Iran. Britain has warned them that it has only limited powers to support them if they are detained in the country.

A foreign office spokeswoman said, “The Foreign Secretary (Jeremy Hunt) has taken the decision to advise against all but essential travel by UK-Iranian dual nationals to Iran.” Her email statement continued, “British citizens who also hold Iranian nationality face risks if they travel to Iran, as we have seen all too sadly in a number of cases. The Iranian government does not recognize dual nationality, so if a dual national is detained our ability to provide support is extremely limited.”

Iran Focus

London, 20 Sep – The people of Golpayegan in the Isfahan Province of Iran have been dealing with major problems in terms of agriculture. Their land that used to have wonderful natural springs is now useless. Agricultural activity has all but stopped because the land is barren and is incapable of producing what it once used to.

This is all because of the Ghaed Bassir Petrochemical Plant. The plant produces Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) and Styrene Acrylonitrile Copolymer (SAN) resins according to the petrochemical owning company.

Iran Focus

London, 19 Sep – Back in May, when Donald Trump formally announced that he would be pulling out of the 2015 nuclear deal, there was a great deal of concern that this would either dramatically increase oil prices and damage the American economy or fail to stop international companies from trading with Iran and allow Iran to restart its nuclear weapons programme without oversight. As of yet, neither has happened.

Instead, Iran’s crude exports are plummeting nearly two months before the sanctions go into effect, as global oil companies – even those based in countries still committed to the deal – are cutting their ties to the country. Despite this, oil prices in the US have not risen as dramatically as was feared, essentially remaining stagnant, largely thanks to the increase in oil production by the US and other oil-producing countries.