Sanctions on Iran that will put pressure on Regime?
…Both houses of Congress have passed a law sanctioning everybody involved in selling gasoline to Iran – trading companies, banks, shippers, insurers, facilitators.
President Obama will sign it. The European Union will go along. Even Russia and China may give some support. China is selling some gasoline to Iran currently, but such political face-saving will end soon enough. The Chinese domestic market has exploding demand of its own and will soon require Beijing to attend to what is happening at home rather than playing “gasoline politics” abroad.
The new sanctions finally hit where it really hurts.
Teheran has a deteriorating refinery infrastructure, a heavily government-subsidized fuel market (domestically produced gasoline costs drivers about 39 cents a gallon), and insatiable demand. The government tried to end the subsidies recently, but the popular rejection quickly shot down that trial balloon…..more
