Zarif tours Middle East: Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has undertaken a three-nation tour of the Gulf and Iraq aimed at boosting ties with its oil-producing neighbours following the landmark conclusion of Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers. The tour began on Sunday and has taken in Kuwait, Qatar and Iraq in the wake of the nuclear deal struck on July 14 between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+1), and which has triggered fears across the region that Iran is now in a position to flood the world markets with oil.
Zarif’s trip is being seen as an important diplomatic attempt to allay those fears after Tehran recently announced that it was targeting oil and gas projects worth $185 billion by 2020.
Though analysts have said that the oil-exporting countries in the Middle East have no imminent reason to worry about a drop in oil prices at the outset of Iran’s re-entry into the market, they estimate that a drop to $60 per barrel would push most of the governments in the region to run deficits, which may force them to keep a close watch on their budget expenditure.
Iran’s Zarif tours Middle East to allay fears of oil glut
Zarif in Kuwait
Source: ameinfo