
US responds to Iranian missile attacks on Israel on 1er October, with new sanctions. Those adopted Friday October 11 target the Iranian petrochemical and oil industries, as well as around twenty ships and several companies abroad, accused of facilitating transport, exports or production in these sectors. “These measures will help deprive Iran of financial resources used to support its missile programs and terrorist groups that threaten the United States, its allies and partners,” justified Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, in a statement. Sanctions immediately qualified as “ illegal ” And “ unjustified » by Tehran.
The announcement comes as Israel studies a response “deadly, precise and surprising” to the attacks of the 1er October, in the words of Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Washington presses the Jewish state not to attack Iranian oil or nuclear sites, for fear of an escalation or global economic repercussions – Iran still being, in 2023, the seventh producer of crude oil in the world, according to the ranking of the Energy Institute. According to Bloomberg, which cites officials familiar with the matter, US authorities have instead proposed imposing new economic sanctions.
Unlike the destruction of refineries, sanctions let oil pass. This is the paradox of these measures. They do not prevent Iran from selling its production to the rest of the world, notably via ghost fleets and multiple front companies, but they complicate their task, increasing the pressure on the regime in Tehran. Over time, they lose their effectiveness as the targeted countries learn to circumvent them. Despite the 2018 American embargo, Iran has gradually resumed its oil exports, which has resulted in an increase in its crude production. This is again at 3.4 million barrels per day in August, after having fallen to 2 million in 2020, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Half of the current production is exported, mainly to China, the world’s leading importer of“black gold”. “The increase in Iranian oil production benefited from the tacit approval of the American administration, which saw it as a way to curb the rise in crude prices, as well as the support of China, the main buyer, which systematically ignored Western sanctions »summarizes the French Institute of Petroleum and New Energies, in a note published on October 7.
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