Leader Sees Political Reasons behind Oil Price Decline
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei described the strange decline in oil price in a short term as a political and non-economic move.
“Our common enemies are using oil as a political weapon, and they (enemies) definitely play a role in such a sharp drop in oil price,” Ayatollah Khamenei said on Saturday in a meeting with the visiting President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro in Tehran.
Over the past six months, the oil prices have fallen about 50 percent due to a glut of supplies by certain oil producing countries such as Saudi Arabia.
Iranian officials have repeatedly said that the decline of crude oil price is not just an economic issue, but the result of a political plot hatched by certain states.
The Supreme Leader further supported the agreements made between the presidents of Iran and Venezuela for a coordinated action against the decline in oil price.
As regards ties between Iran and Venezuela, Imam Khamenei added that the mutual cooperation between the two countries is not limited to oil-related issues, and called for increased exchanges and investments between Tehran and Caracas.
The Leader also said the cooperation between the two sides is now below expectations.
The Leader further lauded Venezuela’s resistance and also the measures adopted by the country at regional and international levels, and said the causes pursued by Caracas have awakened many nations in the Latin American region.
“This is the reason behind the US hostility towards the government and nation of Venezuela,” Imam Khamenei added.
Ayatollah Khamenei also hailed the Venezuelan government’s stances against the Zionist regime of Israel, and stressed that Tel Aviv is completely hated in the world, especially among the regional nations.
President Maduro, for his part, pointed to the global drop in oil price, and said Caracas is trying to restore the oil price to an acceptable level through joint efforts by members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as well as other oil exporters like Russia.
