So much for peace through trade.
The Trump administration will stop allowing countries with waivers to import Iranian crude oil.
Trump granted waivers to several countries in November when he first restored energy sanctions on Iran.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that all waivers granted to countries will expire in early May will not be renewed.
In order to quell fears this will cause a spike in the price of the White House issued a statement saying Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, “are committed to ensuring that global oil markets remain adequately supplied,” We have agreed to take timely action to assure that global demand is met as all Iranian oil is removed from the market.”
But oil continued it reason advance with a gain of over 2.0% this morning.
-RW
UPDATE
(Via Bloomberg)
Iran will close the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway vital for global oil shipments, if the country is prevented from using it, a senior Iranian military official said on Monday in what appears to be a response to the U.S. plan to end waivers on Iranian oil exports.
“If we are prevented from using it, we will close it,” the state-run Fars news agency reported, citing Alireza Tangsiri, head of the Revolutionary Guard Corps navy force. “In the event of any threats, we will not have the slightest hesitation to protect and defend Iran’s waterway.”
UPDATE 2
Pompeo's statement:
Will the US ever quit screwing around with every country on the planet? This just gets ridiculous after a while.
ReplyDeleteTrump and Company are working hard to time the outbreak of war perfectly, I'm sure, so that it erupts only a couple of months before the 2020 Election. That should serve him nicely in his re-election...
ReplyDeleteJust as the federal government will never reform itself domestically, which is why it's important for state governments to grow spines and resist, so too the federal government will never reform itself in foreign policy, which is why it's important for other national governments (the EU, Russia, China, etc.) to resist.
ReplyDelete