Economy

Al-Monitor – Smuggling in general and fuel smuggling in particular have continuously undermined the Iranian economy for a long time. Over the past few months, after the sharp devaluation of the Iranian rial, fuel smuggling has increased and it is estimated that 10 million to 20 million liters of fuel, i.e., 12-24% of Iran’s daily consumption (especially diesel and gasoline), is smuggled out …

Radiofarda – Iran’s Economic Coordination Council has forecast a more than 50 percent decline in the country’s oil sales in the next Iranian fiscal year which starts in March 2019.

Radiofarda – Videos and images published on social media confirm that steel workers in Ahvaz, capital of oil-rich Khuzestan province staged a large protest on Sunday and marched in the main streets of the city.

Radiofarda – The Institute for International Strategic Studies has published an analysis of Iran’s 2018-19 budget suggesting an “upward trajectory” for Iran’s defense spending.

Reuters  – OPEC oil supply has fallen in November from a two-year high due to U.S. sanctions on Iran, a Reuters survey found, although most of the output gap left byIran was plugged by Saudi Arabia and the UAE in response to calls from U.S. President Donald Trump.

CHRI – Law for the Protection of the Rights of Disabled Persons Requires Designated Funding

Reuters – Imports of Iranian crude oil by major buyers in Asia hit a five-year low in October, as China, Japan and South Korea sharply cut purchases ahead of U.S. sanctions on Tehran that took effect in early November, government and ship-tracking data showed. China, India, Japan and South Korea last month imported about 762,000 barrels per day (bpd) from …

Al-Monitor – When the administration of President Hassan Rouhani fixed the exchange rate of the Iranian rial against the US dollar back in April — an ultimately failed effort to curb the free fall of Iran’s national currency — it also revived a controversial mandatory currency repatriation policy. The initiative, which obligates exporters to bring home their hard currency revenues through …

radiofarda – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that Iran has no interest in easing the suffering of Yemen’s people and “the Mullahs don’t even care for ordinary Iranians”.

rferl.org – The U.S. has accused Iran of stepping up violations of a UN ban on arms exports by increasingly supplying weapons to militant groups across the Middle East and continuing its missile program.