An Iranian expert in the energy sector said that Republicans in America are trying to reduce Iranian oil sales (Shutterstock)

Tehran -

The US Department of Justice announced that it had confiscated more than 500,000 barrels of Iranian oil worth $25 million, according to the Associated Press. The ministry also announced criminal charges against buyers of Iranian crude oil in China, Russia and Syria.

American officials described these measures, which come at a time of escalating tension between the United States and Iran, as part of a broader effort to obstruct financial aid to the Iranian army, according to what was reported by the Associated Press.

Election maneuvers

The head of the Iranian Petroleum Products Association, Hamid Hosseini, believes that “the recent events in the region and the pressures from the axis of resistance on Israel and America made Republicans attack the Biden administration in Congress and the media, and they say that these events are the result of the Biden administration’s leniency towards Iranian oil exports.”

Hosseini continued in his speech to Al Jazeera Net, "Given that the countries of the region refused to use the American bases on their lands to attack the Houthis in Yemen and the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq, which forced America to come with its planes, the Biden administration confiscated the Iranian oil tanker to confirm to the American inside that it is fighting in the Middle East." In various ways,” he said, considering that this behavior “has no economic value and is merely a symbolic operation.”

Hosseini added, "Iran will respond to this operation, and may stop the tanker elsewhere and take it back, but this response may not come soon in light of the current situation in the region to avoid escalation." He described the accusations directed against buyers of Iranian oil as "not new and have no effect," explaining that "whoever buys Iranian oil does not want to deal with America."

But he added that there is another scenario, saying, “Unless America stops the tankers, and this will be dangerous, so I rule out that it will take this step, because there are 80 countries in the world that are heading towards elections, and no one wants escalation and war before the elections, and this American operation is a maneuver.” "electoral."

Reducing the Iranian role

On the other hand, economic expert Bahman Arman said, “There have been changes in American policies that have begun since President Biden assumed the presidency, which is to put pressure on Iran, as his administration believes that Iran is the cause of tension in the Middle East region, which produces a third of the world’s oil.”

Arman told Al Jazeera Net, “Targeting tankers in the Red Sea may cost Europe inflation of 3-5%, and this doubles the importance of ending tension in the region, as Russia is the only beneficiary of what is happening here, so America seeks to put pressure on Iran in various ways, including confiscating The oil tanker, in order to reduce the Iranian role in the region and accelerate the path to stability.”

Arman added, "The criminal charges leveled by America against buyers of Iranian oil have no effect because the oil during its sale changes ownership several times, and Iran has shown that it is very good at this process," and he expected Tehran to continue selling 1.5 million barrels of oil per day.

No escalation

Energy sector expert Hamid Reza Shukouhi said, “The measures taken by America in this field are temporary, and if Iran stops carrying out actions that arouse Washington’s ire, these American measures will decrease.”

He continued in his interview with Al Jazeera Net, "It seems that Iran does not really want to provoke America, and the Biden administration does not want escalation before the elections, and does not want Iran to appear as a major threat to the American people at this time. Therefore, the two sides, especially America, do not want any kind of "There will be no escalation or expansion of the scope of tension at this time."

Shokohi explained, “The world economy is moving towards securing needs at lower prices and from stable sources, so it is said that if the sanctions on Iran are lifted, all previous buyers of Iranian oil may not return, because the Iranian market is unstable, in addition to the fact that Russia is now competing with Iran in the oil market.” Because of the sanctions, it sells its oil at a price lower than the world price.”

The expert added, “The more restrictions there are on Iranian oil, the fewer buyers will be, as they will go to safe and stable markets.” He added, “Republicans in America are trying to reduce Iranian oil sales, as we witnessed during the era of former President Donald Trump a significant decline in Iranian oil sales, and during the Biden era, they increased.” The Iranian government said this was a result of its efforts and policy to circumvent the sanctions.

Iranian Deputy Minister of Economy and Head of Customs Mohammad Rezvanifar also announced that the value of oil exports from March 2023 until the end of the year amounted to 26 billion and 460 million dollars.

Regarding the export of petrochemical products in the last nine months of last year, Radwanifar added that during this period, 38 million and 200 thousand tons of petrochemical products worth 15 billion dollars were exported abroad.

Source: Al Jazeera