Iran announced this week that it exported $26.5 billion of oil during the past 9 months, a figure that contradicts both previous Iranian and international estimates. For years, Iranian administrations have not transparently disclosed their oil revenues, citing the illicit nature of shipments under the US sanctions regime. However, in …
Read More »GCC, Iran’s Northern Neighbors Expanding Financial Ties
As Iran grapples with a severe lack of foreign investment, its Arab neighbors are increasingly channeling funds into Iran’s northern regions, boosting trade turnover. On December 17, the United Arab Emirates and the Republic of Azerbaijan jointly launched a substantial investment fund worth one billion dollars. This collaborative venture sees …
Read More »The Car Mafia’s Shadow In Iran-China Electric Vehicle Ventures
As Iran’s domestic carmakers lose money due to sanctions, a technological gap and mismanagement, officials are promising to boost the electrical vehicle production. The only avenue open to Iran is to make deals with Chinese companies and start EV assembly, like fossil-fuel vehicles it produces. China, dominating the global electric vehicle (EV) …
Read More »Iran Faces Serious Challenges To Become An LNG Exporter
Iran, despite having the world’s second-largest natural gas reserves, has not yet become an LNG producer, and faces a critical shortage for essential domestic needs. Natural gas that has been cooled to a liquid form for convenient and secure non-pressurized storage or transportation is known as liquefied natural gas, or LNG. …
Read More »Gulf States’ Opportunities in Kazakhstan’s Emerging Economy and the Middle Corridor
As the world’s great powers and the GCC states cast their attention toward the region, the nations of Central Asia could play a major role in facilitating trade between Europe and China. When U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in San Francisco to patch up Sino-American …
Read More »Water Diplomacy Woes in the Persian Gulf: Navigating Water Scarcity in the UAE and Iran
Water crisis in the Persian Gulf presents a multifaceted challenge, as it plays a critical role in climate adaptation and mitigation, environmental damages and conflicts in the region. The varying water scarcity challenges among Gulf countries raise questions about how it will affect their collective efforts against water scarcity. As COP28 …
Read More »Iran Wastes Huge Oil Reserves Due To Gas Shortage
Iran’s Chamber of Commerce’s Energy Commission head, Arash Najafi, warns that the natural gas shortage not only affects many sectors but also threatens Iran’s oil fields. He emphasized that without re-injecting gas into oil deposits, some fields might become unproductive, leading to substantial economic losses for the country’s oil sector. …
Read More »China Leaves Iran Out Of Major Investment Projects
Despite close political relations with China, Iran has been largely left out of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative and other regional investments, amid US sanctions. China is connected to Southeast and South Asia, Central Asia, the Pacific Ocean, Africa, and Europe through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a massive …
Read More »Iran’s oil and gas industry a year after the war in Ukraine
Introduction Despite its abundant oil and gas reserves, over the last four decades Iran has not been able to play a prominent role in the global energy market. According to energy industry statistics, Iran requires at least US$160 billion in investment to continue to export its oil and natural gas. …
Read More »Obstacles and opportunities for closer Iranian-Chinese economic cooperation
Iranian-Chinese economic relations have grown steadily closer over the past four decades, with Beijing emerging as one of Tehran’s leading trade partners in recent years. Their economic relationship entered a new phase in the 1980s, when China started providing Iran with arms and technology during the Iran-Iraq War. But since …
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