New US Sanctions On Iran May Prompt Oil Prices Spike- Russian Economy Development Minister

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th June, 2019) New US sanctions against Iran may lead to an increase in oil prices, Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin said Tuesday.

On Monday, the United States announced new sanctions targeting Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei and said it was preparing measures against Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. The United States is blocking any assets that belong to the people under sanctions.

"Iran is, obviously, a large crude producer so we see that any attempts to strengthen sanctions influence the balance that we see on the global oil market .

.. From the point of view of energy markets, large restrictions on Iran are something that pushes oil prices up, not down, in the short term, in medium term," Oreshkin said at the Valdai Discussion Club.

The minister added that this increase would have less impact on Russia than it might five or seven years ago, but sanctions were hurtful for everyone, in general.