Why are they increasing the price of gas (which triggered the protests)?
My understanding is that they are largely embargoed, so shouldn't they have plenty of fuel around, given they are (or were) a major exporter?
My understanding is that they are largely embargoed, so shouldn't they have plenty of fuel around, given they are (or were) a major exporter?
> "Many people in oil-producing Iran see cheap gasoline as a national right and price hike sparked worries about a further squeeze on living costs, despite assurances from the Iranian authorities that the revenue raised would be used to help needy families."
Source: https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-iran-fuel-protests/irans-f...
>despite assurances from the Iranian authorities that the revenue raised would be used to help needy families.
I don't see how those two statements are connected at all. Smart people don't even trust statements coming from American politicians, and Iran is a second-world country.
It's not like every country that used to be under the USSR's umbrella has untrustworthy politicians. There tends to be more than average, yes, but that's true for the US as well.
Actually, does that include Iran? I think you might mean they're a third-world country.
1st world : US 2nd world : USSR 3rd world : not aligned with either
If they do end up helping needy families, it will be at best to secure support for the regime but that's like a best case scenario imo.
If they are increasing prices, I suspect they are violating the embargo and selling oil to other countries.
That's entirely false. US sanctions have crushed the Iranian economy, sending inflation skyrocketing and including slashing its oil exports by 85-90%.
Iranian oil exports have gone from 2.7m barrels per day in April 2018 to an optimistic couple hundred thousand now. Reuters reported this Summer that oil exports collapsed to as low as 100,000 barrels per day. So you're saying the US doesn't have an ability to enforce sanctions?
Here's a visual example of it in action (their production figures):
https://i.imgur.com/0NotUaZ.png
The US can immediately crush Iran's most important economic segment via sanctions.
In October the IMF forecast that Iran's economy would contract by 9.5% for 2019, one of the worst economic outcomes in Iran's modern history. The World Bank's figure came to a 8.7% contraction.
The same IMF report says Iran is suffering 35% inflation. The Statistical Center for Iran says it's 47%.
The riots going on in Iran say it's all broadly true.
Iran is also not the most stable or wealthy nation among its neighbors. They're clearly no more wealthy or stable than Saudi Arabia or Turkey (both of which have their own issues). Turkey for example has a real economy not dependent on oil exports and a $10,000 GDP per capita. Iran's GDP per capita is below Iraq at $5,500. Read that again, Iran's economic output per capita is now below Iraq.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan%E2%80%93United_States...
I dont doubt Pakistan want to appear to toe the line for their dollars but beyond that I don't think there is a strong alliance to support US agenda.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_subsidy_reform_plan
15% of GDP!
Totally sensible to wind this back and allow prices to operate under normal market conditions.
17% of this subsidised fuel is smuggled out of the country anyway.
If barrels of 87 octane were magically floating in on the tide you could hardly make a profit at that price.