What New Sanctions on Iran Would Cost—And What They Would Achieve
Christopher A. Preble
Security, Diplomacy, Economics, Middle East
American consumers have already clearly benefited from the collapse of oil prices.
Although all of the men (and the one woman) running for the GOP presidential nomination have been sharply critical of the Iran nuclear deal, Sen. Marco Rubio seems particularly incensed. He loudly pledges on his campaign Web site that he will “reimpose sanctions on Iran on Day 1,” and he probably means even tighter ones than those previously in place.
It is reasonable to ask, however, what reimposed sanctions on Iran will achieve, and what they will cost—including what they will cost American consumers.
The slump in global crude oil prices has accelerated in the past week, and many analysts have attributed this to the addition of Iranian crude to the already oversupplied global market. As Iran complied with the final terms of the agreement this past week, and is now out from under the sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council, it seems poised to push prices lower.
American consumers have already clearly benefited from the collapse of oil prices. Based on the U.S. Energy Information Agency’s weekly survey, the average price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline has fallen from $3.63 in June 2014, to $1.81 this week.
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