Middle East Focus: Remember when Politicizing Oil was Blackmail and Opposed by the West?.............

Arabia Deserta

Remember when Politicizing Oil was Blackmail and Opposed by the West?.............

Rattlesnake Ridge

BFF

“The European Union's recent agreement in principle to gradually ban Iranian crude oil imports has brought to a head a long-running dispute between Europe's economic and foreign ministries. Economic ministries feared politicizing oil because any disruption could hurt fragile economies and send prices soaring. Foreign ministries, for their part, were eager to turn the screws on Tehran with an oil embargo that would raise the costs of the country's alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons. This gap is narrowing fast -- but not only because of the urgency of increased diplomatic pressure. EU ministers will discuss the embargo on January 23 after two weeks of saber-rattling in the Persian Gulf…………”

There was a time when Western governments and Western media where screaming “unfair” when the Arab states cut back oil production to pressure the West. That was especially true during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, when everyone in the West, from Washington to Berlin/Bonn shook their heads: “Tsk, tsk, oil should not be used as a political weapon. It is like blackmail!”. Well, lo and behold, blackmail is in vogue now, but only if it is committed by the Western powers against others, like Iran.
Cheers
mhg

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com