Trump's dream to stop Iranian oil export doomed to fail: Report

Trump's dream to stop Iranian oil export doomed to fail: Report

Tehran, April 27, IRNA - Many Arab analysts believe that US president Donald Trump’s plan will stop the flow of Iranian oil exports, but, Tehran is working hard to drive the plan to total failure with many options it has to thwart such a scheme.

US anti-Iranian measures have increased, and the White House on Monday issued a statement announcing that US President Donald Tramp has decided to stop issuance for waivers for Iranian oil buyers. According to a number of Arab analysts, the US plan will not be successful so that Iran has many options to deal with the United States and its allies.

** Challenge between US and its allies

Qatari Al-Jazeera news organization wrote in a report that Trump's decision to cancel waivers to Iran's oil purchasers is about to begin his campaign for presidency soon and has economic and political risks. Analysts say US policy will boost oil prices. This could also lead to an increase in gasoline prices in the United States.

The impacts of US policy on Iran depends on the commitment of China, India and South Korea to sanctions. These three countries are the largest buyers of Iranian oil and buy 2 million barrels of oil a day from Iran. China, as the largest buyer of Iranian oil, has already challenged the US request to stop oil purchases from Iran, and on Monday again announced that it will continue its legal trade with Iran. In addition to the three countries, Turkey has strengthened its trade relations with Iran, especially in the energy sector. Ankara has announced that mechanisms to thwart US sanctions are in place to continue engaging with Iran. Germany, France, and the United Kingdom in the framework of the European Union have now organized mechanisms to continue the relationship with Iran, Al Jazeera added.

Al-Araby Al-Jadeed newspaper reported that the US decision to abolish waivers for countries buying oil from Iran faces two problems. The first problem related to the need of global markets for Iran's products and the tense situation in the region and second problem is the ability of the countries in which the United States has been counting on oil production. Iran's oil production increased after 2015 nuclear deal in 2015 and lift of US sanctions in 2016. Iran has the world's fourth-largest oil reserves with 160 billion barrels of oil. Increased tensions in key oil producing areas, including Libya and Venezuela, has made it hard to offset and replace Iran's oil supply. In this regard, the head of the Libyan National Oil Institute, Mostafa Sana'ullah, said in an interview with the Financial Times that the continuation of the clashes in Libya would lead to the destruction of oil industry.

Al-Araby Al-Jadeed added, 'Saudi Arabia faces problems in its current capabilities to replace Iran's oil. Maybe it will be a replacement for Iranian oil in the short term and with the help of its oil reserves. But, this country will not succeed in the long run. Perhaps Saudi Arabia will bet on a number of options in the short term, including increasing output to 11 million barrels per day and putting aside its problems with Kuwait in the oil-rich areas of al-Faji and al-Wafra, but this country alone will not be able to be a replacement for Iran's oil exports. As the Euro-Asia Group in its oil analysis announced that the United States cannot make its promise of reducing Iranian oil exports to zero due to the current situation in the oil markets. “Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, needs around $ 80 to $ 85 a barrel to make a balance in its budget,” Jihad- Azoor, director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund last February noted.

According to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed 's report, the US administration has another solution to itself, which is very bitter. Under this option, the United States will force Russia to increase its oil production with the goal of offsetting Iran's oil prices on global markets. But it will be in Russia's favor that its oil sector is under US sanctions.

Syria's Al-Thawra daily also wrote that it is very difficult for any country, even if it has a big role in the international arena, to impose its will on the whole of the world to cut to zero the oil export with the power and threat.' 'If the other side of this country is Iran, the situation will be even harder. Because Iran is a vast country with land and sea outreach with one thousand kilometers borders. It has close political and economic ties with many countries, especially European allies in the European Union and the entire world.'

'Although Trump's decisions may have some negative implications for Iran, these consequences will not be based on the wishes of Netanyahu, the prime minister of the Zionist regime. Due to its high level of experience, Iran has thousands of mechanisms to neutralize and undermine the policy of the hard-line team of Trump and their unilateral sanctions. Definitely, Tramp calculations will not be right. World oil markets will not be able to operate on the basis of Washington's decisions. Libya, Venezuela and Nigeria cannot export their oil to world markets for various reasons. Saudi oil and UAE oil cannot be a replacement for Iranian oil. Nevertheless, given that Trump had promised to continue to lower oil prices in the election, now his stupid decision, due to his full commitment to the Zionism lobby, will have adverse consequences for his political future. '

** Iran's effective diplomacy: a tool to counter US oil sanctions

The London- based Al-Ray al-Youm newspaper in a report by Mohammad Mostafa al-Umrani wrote: 'The decision of the US president to lift the waivers for countries to buy oil from Iran is a clear economic war against the economy.' Hence, Iran has begun its diplomacy to defeat the decision and is working to create an international coalition with the aim of confronting the tensions escalated by the United States.

“Iran and its allies in the region have many options and effective trump cards to thwart the US decision to stop oil exports. Indeed, the country will use diplomacy to reduce American- made tensions. This country in the field of diplomacy is related with all the domestic institutions in this regard. The State Department's statement on this matter has also shown that it has consulted with many foreign companies in neighboring countries, the region and Europe,” the daily wrote.

Indeed, Iran will do its utmost to defeat US efforts to curb Iran's oil exports in neighboring countries and European countries. The country has already worked to establish and strengthen its relations with Iraq, Turkey and Pakistan, and has reached important understandings and agreements. The Iranian Foreign Ministry has also consulted with China, Russia, India and other countries, and in this context, Turkey has also expressed its opposition to US decisions. Iran can use its solid ties with Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan, China, India, and Russia. Iran is skilled in circumventing US sanctions and will deal with these sanctions in various ways, and will use all the tools to neutralize these sanctions. '