Iranian official to Trump: Drop sanctions to lower oil prices
Iran's representative to OPEC urged US President Donald Trump to lift sanctions on Iran to lower the oil prices, a US-based news website reported on Sunday.
“My advice to you, Mr. President, is to avoid touching the SPR - to cool down and give up sanctioning Iranian oil,' Hossein Kazempour Ardebili, Iran’s representative to OPEC said in an email.
The official made a reference to the US policy to tap its Strategic Petroleum Reserve with the aim of filling the gap that will be caused by its sanctions on Iran.
“Mr. President, as I have foreseen earlier, it seems you are resorting to the SPR due to the fact that there is no spare capacity to cover for Iranian exports - but there will be many repercussions,' Kazempour said according to the Bloomberg.
Trump has also asked Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members to cover the gap.
Saudi Arabia has promised to pump an addition 2 million barrels a day, but energy experts believe it cannot be more than one million.
'Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Russia pretended to be able to deliver 2.5 million barrels a day of Iranian exports,” Kazempour said. “That was a miscalculation, Mr. President: you have fallen in their trap, and prices will go up.'
The US is also under pressure from the major customers of Iran's crude. American officials have said they are considering waiver request of some countries.
'If we in Iran were to stop our exports for just one month to show what it can bring to the world economy, you would have thought twice,” Kazempour said. “But we are a civilized nation, and a responsible government.'
Donald Trump has been desperately trying to pull down the prices before congressional elections in November.