Tehran is pulling the strings

Iran's plan to retaliate by stopping oil sales to Europe is a profitable move, writes the business paper Il Sole 24 Ore: "The real referees in the oil battle are the markets. Because it is there, behind the scenes of the governments in question, that the real battle is taking place. Tehran's threat to forestall Brussels and stop oil exports is aimed at driving up oil prices. The Iranians will sell the oil at a low price to the Chinese, who will then resell it on the market at a considerable profit. Others will follow China's example. This is how Iraq got around the embargo ten years ago. Iran has more allies than is generally assumed. The Afghan President Hamid Karzai defended Tehran vigorously during his state visit to Italy [on Wednesday]. It is quite possible that Kabul is counting on Tehran's help to sabotage the negotiations with the Taliban that the US is pushing for. We can be pretty sure that Iranian oil will flow through Afghanistan before the eyes of our soldiers. This is the way of the world - and it diverges considerably from the path charted out by the increasingly useless international agreements."

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