Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 24
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iran will successfully overcome the oil price fall, Iranian president Hassan Rouhani said, the Islamic Republic state IRINN TV reported Dec. 24.
Rouhani said that however the oil price has fallen as a result of global economic conditions and political plot by certain countries, the Islamic Republic will pass the crisis.
He also forecasted that the current fall trend is not permanent and will be changed.
The Islamic Republic officials- including Rouhani- have on numerous occasions argued that the oil price fall is a political issue rather than economical.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani earlier said that some believed oil prices could be exploited as a lever to change strategic issues in the region, adding "we will not forget which countries made conspiracies in reducing oil prices."
Early in December Rouhani said "the oil price drop is a plot against the regional people and Muslims which merely benefits some other countries."
The fall in the global crude oil price from almost $110/barrel to below $60/barrel in recent months has imposed pressure on Iranian economy which already suffering international sanctions. There is uncertainty over how the government will fund its proposed budget for next fiscal year (to start on March 2015), even though it has already dropped the assumed oil price from $100/barrel to $72/barrel.
The OPEC oil basket price was $107.89 in mid-June, but has been in dramatic decline, especially after October. The price stood at $56.9/b on Dec. 22.
Rouhani already confirmed that the Islamic Republic's oil revenues have decreased by 30 percent as a result of price fall.
The Saudi Arabia officials have refused to countenance a cut in output by OPEC during and after the meeting of oil-producing nations in late November.
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