Oil exporting countries are smiling all the way to the bank these days, except Iran. The price of Brent crude oil touched $75.89 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate reached $70.52. The Chinese also experience a similar rise, where yuan-traded Shanghai futures surged to an all-time high in US dollars at $72.54 on Monday. This is the highest it has been in two and a half years. Producers are definitely seeing a significant increase in the price of oil. Numerous countries that are heavily reliant on such prices are getting some serious relief since the price was artificially lowered by the US-backed OPEC countries to hurt countries under US aggression.

This rise in price is heavily connected to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (the Iran nuclear deal). It seems investors are confident that US president Donald Trump will pull from the agreement. This will no doubt lead to new sanctions on the country which is a major OPEC oil exporter. Iranian oil will be taken off the market suddenly cutting the global supply, increasing the price. Iranian oil has been on the market since 2016.

In my opinion, the US has planned to do this for over a year. It has been revealed that in may of 2017 Trump officials hired an Israeli intelligence firm to dig up dirt on Obama administration officials who wrote up the JCPOA agreement in order to undermine it. Why? Becuase the US has begun a new round of oil drilling at home in the past year or so. In fact, U.S. crude oil production broke 10 million barrels a day in November for the first time since production peaked in 1970. I think it no coincidence that the end of the agreement that will push Iranian oil off the market right when the US is at a decades-high in production.

It seems to me that the sabotage of the JCPOA agreement that Trump is insistent upon is largely influenced by an increase in domestic oil production – no doubt a part of his “America First” policy.