Recent reports claim that Iran is currently planning its response to the threat of the United States to once again levy sanctions to the former's vital oil industry. Iran is reportedly trying to prevent its Saudi Arabian neighbor from pumping more barrels of oil in order to offset the planned sanctions of the United States.
According to a Reuters report, Iranian ambassador Kazem Gharibabadi told the Secretary-General of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) that "no country is allowed to take the share of other members for production and exports of oil."
Earlier this month, U.S. President Trump announced that he is studying the possibility of imposing once again the sanctions on Iran. The said sanctions will include the sale of Iranian oil.
On the other hand, Saudi Arabia has already iterated that the country has the necessary infrastructure to support an increase in terms of oil production. President Trump claims that Saudi Arabia has already agreed to increase its oil output by as much as 2 million barrels per day.
Many experts believe that the increase in Saudi Arabia's oil output is needed in order to make up for the loss of Iran's capacity once the sanctions are imposed.
While these recent developments may look grim for Iran, the country has recently found a glimmer of hope. New reports claim that China is shifting to Iranian tankers in order to keep its supply in the healthy state. This decision comes at a time when China and the U.S. are locked into a bitter trade war.
China is the largest buyer of Iranian oil. The decision to continue buying Iranian oil is a show of determination against the sanctions imposed by the U.S. government.
The U.S. is trying to box out Iranian oil export in order to force the country to sit down and negotiate a new nuclear deal and to tone down its influence within the Middle East. On the other hand, China said that it plans to oppose any unilateral sanctions and has stood its ground against criticisms of its economic deal with Iran.
The first set of sanctions against Iran imposed by the U.S. were dropped earlier this month.
The ban on the purchase of Iranian oil will take effect in November. Some insurers have already talked to their Iranian business partners to comply with said sanctions.
