Iran calls for energy markets to become non-political 

Iran’s Oil Minister, Bijan Zanganeh, has called for the depoliticisation of energy markets as his country looks to end the painful sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic by US President Donald Trump.

“The energy market must be non-political in order to prevent unilateral and illegal interference,” Reuters reported Zanganeh saying today upon arrival in Russia for a meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF).

Zanganeh also expressed his willingness to meet the oil minister of regional rival Saudi Arabia but he claimed that the Saudis had a problem with meeting their Iranian counterparts.

The Saudis were also accused, by Zanganeh, of overstating the damage caused by the attacks on the kingdom’s oil facilities nearly three weeks ago. The strike claimed by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group, temporarily knocked out half of Saudi’s daily capacity, more than five per cent of global oil production and sent petroleum prices spiking higher.

READ: Iran on full alert to protect oil facilities from possible attacks 

The economic pain inflicted on Saudi’s largest oil processing plant, Abqaiq, left Riyadh in the unenviable position of having to import oil for its domestic consumption. Within two weeks, however, Riyadh was able to restore its full capacity, which was widely seen as an indication of the kingdom’s resilience.

Zanganeh seems to suggest that the Saudis were not being completely honest about the extent of the damage. “I never believed that with this attack half of the oil production of Saudi Arabia was made unavailable,” said the oil minister.

“I think Saudi Arabia has resorted to political exaggeration about this in order to say that the energy security of the world has been put in danger.”

The call to depoliticise the energy market comes at a critical moment. Despite the September attack on Saudi, all the major players have expressed their intention to avoid full military confrontation. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has even warned of a “total collapse” of the global economy unless tensions with Iran are reigned in.

Both Iran and Saudi stand to lose the most from further escalation of tensions. Despite being arch enemies, Riyadh and Tehran are heavily dependent on oil and both are in desperate need of political stability.