The recent agreement between the United States and Iran could portend well for regional security—or it could reinforce existing divisions and promote further escalatory behavior from each side, with significant economic consequences in either case. The recently announced prisoner swap between the United States and Iran has spurred debates about how it …
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 »The Geopolitics of Turkey’s Upcoming Elections
On May 11, Turkish opposition candidate Muharren Ince announced that he was dropping out of the upcoming presidential elections, allegedly due to, in his words, a “smear campaign” that is “the work of the Gülenist Terror Group” (Daily Sabah, May 11). As one of four opposition candidates running against Turkish …
Read More »Iran-Saudi Agreement: In Search of Stable Oil Exports and New Relations
As a “neutral” power seeking to distance itself from the Middle East’s various geopolitical rivalries, China has supported reconciliation and peace to stabilize its access to the region’s resources. The relationship between Iran and Saudi Arabia has been fraught with tension for decades, with each side accusing the other of interference in …
Read More »Striking Oil: How Strikes in Iran’s Energy Sector Could Shape the Protest Movement
In 1979, oil workers in Iran dealt a blow to the Pahlavi dynasty; now, instability in Iran’s energy sector could once again put tremendous pressure on the regime or lead to the fall of the Islamic Republic itself. Considering the central role of energy exports to Iran’s economy, the security …
Read More »Iran Cannot Develop its Oil Sector Without Sanctions Relief
Iran can neither increase its oil and natural gas production capacity, nor attract the necessary foreign capital and technology for their expansion, without the lifting of sanctions. Thanks to a combination of Western animosity and Iran’s regional foreign policy, the country’s energy industry has faced ever more onerous sanctions in …
Read More »There are challenges and opportunities in relations between Iran and Venezuela
Political and economic relations between Iran and Venezuela have grown over the past two decades. The South American country has the largest known oil reserves in the world but, despite being recognised as a leading economy on the continent for many years, Venezuela is a prime example of the “economic …
Read More »US Energy Diplomacy in Light of the War in Ukraine
One month since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it has become clear that the war in Ukraine is changing global energy geopolitics. To understand the role of energy in the US response to the Ukraine Crisis, Adam Hoffman and Dr. Rebecca Molloy of Wikistrat interviewed Dr. Umud Shokri, who is …
Read More »Iran’s Combative Diplomacy Continues in Vienna
After the withdrawal of the United States from the 2015 “Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,” or JCPOA, nuclear deal with Iran, Tehran initially indicated that it would continue to follow its obligations in cooperation with the remaining members of the “P5+1” group that had negotiated the deal. Despite this early indication, Iran …
Read More »Will the energy crisis accelerate nuclear talks between Iran and the P4+1?
Iran’s energy, and especially its natural gas, will not have much potential to solve the global energy crisis, especially in Europe, and the energy crisis can not be used as a weapon by Iran to gain more concessions in the nuclear talks. As the world prepares to revive its economy …
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