Iranian Oil Official Warns About Trump's Tweets Impacting Oil Prices

On Thursday, July 5, Iran's representative to the OPEC Board of Governors directly addressed the U.S. President, urging him to stop his 'damaging' tweets regarding oil prices. According to the Shana news agency, affiliated with the Iranian Ministry of Oil, Hossein Kazempour Ardebili stated that Trump's 'repeated and damaging' tweets have caused a $10 increase in global oil prices. This remark refers to Trump's recent tweet about OPEC and rising gasoline prices in the U.S. In this tweet published on Wednesday, Trump called OPEC an 'exclusive' organization and commanded its members to 'end prices now.' He wrote: '... while the U.S. defends many OPEC members for a small fee, they are just raising prices.' In response, Kazempour Ardebili said: 'With your repeated and damaging tweets, global crude oil prices have increased by ten dollars; please end this practice, otherwise global crude oil prices will rise further.' Trump has made headlines with his early morning tweets, which now serve as official statements from the White House. The Iranian representative further reminded that 'OPEC has not intervened in determining global crude oil prices for the past 30 years.' He also stated: 'The United States imposes sanctions on major producers and founders of OPEC and at the same time asks them to reduce crude oil prices?!' This reference by the Iranian representative pertains to the renewed sanctions on Tehran by the U.S. President, which are set to be reinstated from mid-November following the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA. In line with these sanctions, Trump's administration has asked all of Iran's oil customers to strive to reduce their purchases from the Islamic Republic to zero by November. However, in this context, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing Goldman Sachs, that uncertainty regarding oil production levels in Iran and Venezuela may drive oil prices higher. Currently, each barrel of oil is trading at around $78 in the global market. Kazempour Ardebili also 'recommended' to the U.S. President to 'quickly join the Vienna negotiations tomorrow (Friday, July 6).' The foreign ministers of the 1+5 group, who signed the nuclear agreement known as the JCPOA with the Islamic Republic, minus the U.S., are set to meet on Friday in the Austrian capital to discuss ways to keep this agreement alive, which some analysts predict will end following the U.S. withdrawal. On May 8, Trump announced his country's withdrawal from this agreement, arguing that the JCPOA did not prevent Iran from its nuclear activities and that Iran was not adhering to the 'spirit' of the agreement due to its missile activities. In contrast, America's partners in this agreement, namely France, Britain, and Germany, have repeatedly emphasized that they still recognize the JCPOA and will strive to maintain it.