Ways and Prices for Selling Iranian Oil to New Customers

Eshaq Jahangiri, the First Vice President of Iran, stated in an interview with the Japanese news agency Kyodo that Iran has found "new ways" to sell its oil. He added without further details about these new methods that "even if Iran's main economic partners reduce their oil purchases, Tehran has found new partners and has sold oil to them, and this trend will continue." Simultaneously, with the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA, Iran is facing U.S. oil sanctions. Radio Farda conducted an interview with Shahin Fatemi, head of the American Institute of Economics in Paris, asking how the customers mentioned by the Vice President can buy oil from Iran. Shahin Fatemi stated that one way is for oil-carrying ships to turn off their electronic indicators of cargo type and destination and move in a way that they are not detected. According to this economics professor, the second method is transporting oil through pipelines to Iraq, although it is uncertain whether the new Iraqi government will allow this. In the expert's view, the rest of the unconventional oil sales could occur through barter or oil-for-goods exchanges, especially with China. Shahin Fatemi believes that selling Iranian oil at low prices and exchanging it for currencies other than the dollar and euro will not solve the country's problems and economic needs, and every day this continues will harm the country's economic infrastructure.