Behind the Headlines/July 4

Jamshid Chalangi:

In tonight’s program of Behind the Headlines:

Was Iran, as the current regime claims, under the domination of a foreign country?

Does isolating Iran mean that we are now an independent country?

What role the regime’s atomic program has played in the imposition of US sanctions?

We discuss these topics with our guest, Hassan Mansour and Namdar Baghaie Yazdi.

Jamshid Chalangi:

Hassan Rouhani has threatened that if Iran cannot export its oil, nobody else will be able to do so.

Dr. Hassan Mansour:

The oil market is a very technological market and due to the heavy investments in its exploration over the last few years, its output has increased considerably. So much so that the US has managed to increase its production by 2 million barrels a day.

During the Ahmadinejad administration the regime heavily benefitted from the high price of oil but they could not predict that OPEC’s power was declining.

Now the Saudis and the Russians have decided to increase their output, which will lead to some kind of chaos with OPEC.

Rouhani’s comments are not diplomatic, as it will give the excuse to those who want to have a military attack on Iran.

What does Rouhani mean by saying that Iran will close the Strait Hormuz? This is an impossible military option and is nothing more than a bluff. The question is why the regime has come under new sanctions and the answer is that the conditions set forward by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are the same conditions of the Iranian people who want the regime to change its policies and get out of Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq.

We are still some weeks away from the start of the sanctions and the bazaar has already turned upside down.

The US dollar plays a vital role in Iran’s economy and even if the regime privatizes the oil industry they would still have to deal with the international markets that is based on US dollar.

Jamshid Chalangi:

In the second part of the program, the environmentalist Dr. Namdar Baghaie Yazdi will talk about the water shortage crisis in Iran despite the existence of three major rivers in the country, as well as how the Israelis have successfully overcome their water shortage by inventing new technology of irrigation and recycling of wastewater.

Stay with us for this edition of Behind the Headlines and share it with your family and friends.