European Union foreign ministers showed cautious support on Monday for possible new economic sanctions on Iran in a shift of policy after accusations of Iranian attack plots in France and Denmark, diplomats said.
Oil markets on Friday remained weak as rising supply and concerns of an economic slowdown pressured prices, with U.S. crude now down by 20% since early October. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were at US$ 61.63 per barrel.
Oil prices were mixed on Monday after a steep five-day fall, as the United States formally imposed punitive sanctions on Iran but granted eight countries temporary waivers allowing them to keep buying oil from the Islamic Republic. The sanctions are part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s effort to curb Iran’s missile and nuclear programs and diminish its influence in the Middle East.
United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday defended the White House’s move last week to reimpose sanctions against Iran amid criticism from some conservatives that the action does not go far enough to cripple the country’s economy.
The Trump administration is to reinstate all US sanctions on Iran removed under the 2015 nuclear deal. The White House said it was the toughest sanctions regime ever imposed on Iran and targeted Iran's energy, shipping and banking sectors.
Saudi Arabia has no intention of unleashing a 1973-style oil embargo on Western consumers and will isolate oil from politics, the Saudi energy minister said on Monday amid a worsening crisis over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The friendly football match between Iran and Bolivia Wednesday in Tehran marked the first time women were allowed to attend a stadium since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. The Iranian squad defeated Bolivia 2-1.
President Donald Trump should stop interfering in the Middle East if he wants the price of oil to stop rising, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
The US ambassador to the United Nations has dismissed Iran's assertion that Washington and its Gulf allies are to blame for a deadly attack at a military parade and says Tehran should look closer to home. Before leaving for the United Nations on Sunday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani accused other countries, including the US, of provoking the attack killed 25 people and wounded 60 on Saturday.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said that the U.S. likely surpassed Saudi Arabia and Russia earlier this year to become the world’s top crude oil producer. The EIA based its disclosure on preliminary estimates in its Short Term Energy Outlook which is released every month.