Daily Alert Archives

Mismanagement Makes Iran Vulnerable to U.S. Pressure

(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Patrick Clawson - After years of misguided policies, Iran is in the throes of a serious domestic energy crisis complete with rolling blackouts, empty gasoline pumps, and shortages of natural gas for home heating. A recently leaked report from Iran's National Supreme Energy Council showed that the country's power plants were able to produce only 75% of their nominal peak capacity. Blackouts for two hours per day have been announced in major cities. Former oil CEO Abbas Kazemi offered a glaring example of the problems in the government's energy policies: "Instead of stockpiling diesel for winter, the Abadan Refinery sold 400 to 500 million liters meant for power plants." Regime mismanagement makes it vulnerable to U.S. pressure to discourage the sale of oil products to Iran. In 2010, an overwhelming bipartisan majority in Congress forced an unenthusiastic Obama administration to levy sanctions on companies and governments for "providing goods or services that could directly and significantly contribute to the enhancement of Iran's ability to import refined petroleum products, including insurance or reinsurance services; financing or brokering services; or ships and shipping services." Enforcing sanctions on Iran's gasoline imports is less diplomatically fraught than sanctioning its oil exports, most of which go to China. The most active sources of oil products for Iran are the UAE, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Pressing companies and officials in these jurisdictions could give Washington a particularly effective way to press Tehran. The writer directs the Program on Iran and U.S. Policy at The Washington Institute.
2024-12-05 00:00:00
Full Article