Saudis Increase Oil Sales

Saudi Arabia is extending its oil sales to the United States this year. KSA’s shipments to the US have risen 25 percent to the highest level since mid-2008, Reuters reported today.

The increase in sales to the US evokes comparison to 2008 when the KSA was driving up production to knock oil process off record highs near $150 a barrel.

The kingdom has also stepped up efforts this week to assure edgy markets that it will make up for any oil supply disruptions at a time when Iran's standoff with the West has begun to intensify.

Source: Reuters, 17 March 2012

Second Round of Elections Set for Early May

Iran announced that the second round of parliamentary elections for the Ninth Majlis will be held May 4th. In Tehran, only five candidates were elected in the first round earlier this month, with 25 other seats being contested in the second round. There will be second-round elections mostly in other major cities as well.

SWIFT Cuts Ties with Iran

The SWIFT global financial transaction service today cut its ties with Iranian banks that are subject to EU sanctions. The action makes it impossible for the Iranian banks to engage in international transactions and would isolate Iran financially.

"Disconnecting banks is an extraordinary and unprecedented step for SWIFT," Lazaro Campos, chief executive of SWIFT, said. "It is a direct result of international and multilateral action to intensify financial sanctions against Iran."

Source: AP, 15 March 2012

UPDATE: the Brussels-based SWIFT announced the cut off date would be Saturday 17 March. SWIFT, described as the ‘glue’ of the global banking system, handles payments among banks worldwide at more than $6 trillion each day. Iran’s exclusion from the system will severely limit the country’s ability to conduct international banking transactions.

Rafsanjani Reappointed as Head of Expediency Council

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei today reappointed Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani as the chairman of the Expediency Council for another 5-year term. The appointment ends months of speculations, and expectations by the country’s extreme right, that the moderate Rafsanjani was being forced to retire from public life.

File photo: Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani / niacinsight.com

Dubai Money Exchange Houses Stop Trading in Rial

Major money exchange houses in the UAE have stopped handling Iranian rial. Iranian businessmen had used the exchange houses to transfer funds outside the banking system.

"Most exchange companies have stopped dealing in Iranian rial mainly because of its devaluation in the last few months, as well as the regulations imposed by the U.S. regulatory authorities on the financial sector," said Mohamed al-Ansari, chairman and managing director of Al Ansari Exchange, one of the UAE's top two exchange houses. "As such, nobody would like to risk trading in the Iranian rial currency, as it would affect their business." [Reuters, 15 March].

Dubai, 150 kilometers (100 miles) across the Persian Gulf, has been a major trading hub for Iran. Re-export trade between Iran and the UAE -- goods sent to the UAE for on-shipment to Iran, and Iranian goods sent to the UAE for on-shipment to other countries – totals $12 billion annually.

However, hawala channels are still used for Iranian trade with Dubai. Hawala is a legal but largely unregulated money transfer network that is based on personal relationships and operates in the Middle East and South Asia -- and even transfers of physical cash between Dubai and Iran across the Gulf on ferries.

Source: Reuters, 15 March 2012

India Issues Warrants for 3 Iranians in Delhi Blast

A New Delhi court has issued arrest warrants for three Iranians accused of being involved in terrorist bombing attack last month on an Israeli diplomatic vehicle wounding a diplomat’s wife, the Delhi police announced today. Last week, the police arrested an Indian journalist working for Iran’s state-run Press TV in connection with the case. The three Iranians were identified as Hossein Afshar, Ali Mehdi Sadr and Mohammad Reza Abolghasemi.

Sources: AP and Official Wire, 15 March 2012