Chinese yuan-backed oil futures contracts hit their daily limit with a 5-percent spike on Tuesday as the US kicked off the first round of sanctions against Iran. Washington’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and target the country's oil sector with sanctions is expected to significantly boost China's leverage to demand crude imports be priced in yuan. [...]

Benjamin Netanyahu has lashed out at Israel's arch-foe Iran, vowing that any attempt by Tehran to block the key waterway off Yemen’s coast would be met by force from the “international coalition” and Israel in particular. The harsh statements by the Israeli PM, who was speaking at a graduation ceremony for naval officers on Wednesday, were referring to the recent Houthi attack on a Saudi oil [...]

Beijing’s retaliatory measures against US tariffs can include penalties on oil coming to China from America. A cut in Chinese purchases of US oil may benefit Iran’s sales and anger Washington. “The Chinese may just replace some of the American oil with Iranian crude,” said John Driscoll, director of consultancy JTD Energy Services, as quoted by Reuters. [...]

The United States is isolating itself from countries around the world, and making countries unite in a time of economic repression from Washington, prominent investor Jim Rogers says. “America is pushing China and Russia together, America’s pushing China and Iran together, pushing China, Iran, Russia all together, and that’s pushing America out of some very major countries in the world,” R [...]

India will reportedly pay for Iranian oil in rupees as the two countries seek to bypass US sanctions against Tehran, industry officials have told the Sputnik news agency. Under the deal, the payments for oil will be made through India’s state-run UCO Bank, which has no US exposure. The countries are also discussing the barter-like system to avoid US sanctions, Sputnik reports. [...]

China’s state-owned energy giant CNPC is ready to replace French energy company Total’s stake in the Iranian South Pars gas project. In 2017, Total and CNPC signed a 20-year contract worth 4.8 billion dollars to develop Phase 11 of Iran’s South Pars field. Sputnik spoke with political analyst Tom McGregor about CNPC’s acquisition plan. [...]

Since at least 1945, the United States has only fought stupid wars.  Some have been stupider than others, but, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, Democrats and Republicans have supported them all.  If Trump does get an Iran War going, count on bipartisan support for it too, though, for sheer stupidity, it would rival and perhaps even exceed the Kennedy-Johnson-Nixon war against Vietnam. More [...]

In spite of US threats, the EU is all set to protect its economic interests in Iran and has started implementing a 1996 law that would prohibit European companies from complying with any sanctions the US would reintroduce against Tehran. “Europe should be grateful to President Trump, because thanks to him we have got rid of old illusions,” European Council President Donald Tusk said at the sta [...]

The re-imposition of US sanctions on Iran and Washington’s threat to punish European companies for doing business there provides a good opportunity for ditching the dollar, according to RT’s Keiser Report host, Max Keiser. “The US uses the dollar as a weapon to promote US dollar hegemony and the US Empire. [...]

Washington’s intention to re-impose the "toughest" sanctions on Iran appears to be playing into the hands of Chinese investors and oil futures traders, analysts have come to believe. Shanghai crude oil futures ISCc1 have recently seen a significant uptick in their trade volumes, which hit a record 250,000 lots last Wednesday, a day after Trump announced the US was withdrawing from the 2015 Iran [...]

The European Union is planning to switch payments to the euro for its oil purchases from Iran, eliminating US dollar transactions, a diplomatic source told RIA Novosti. Brussels has been at odds with Washington over the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, which was reached during the administration of Barack Obama. President Donald Trump has pledged to re-impose sanctions against the Islamic [...]

While Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and a White House policy adviser, took the floor at the US Embassy opening ceremony in Jerusalem, Twitter most naturally turned ablaze, with many resorting to increasingly demonstrated skepticism and even outrage over the Kushner family's involvement in yet another Middle Eastern issue. [...]

UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson vowed Monday that the UK will consider how to help European firms have confidence they can still do business in Iran. The UK and France are determined to preserve the essence of the Iran Nuclear Deal, Boris Johnson said. [...]

Washington’s renewed sanctions on Tehran supports China’s newly established oil futures, analysts say. The sanctions can make the yuan a more preferable currency than the dollar on the oil market. Since their launch in May, the interest in the renminbi-backed oil contracts has steadily surged. Traded daily volumes hit a record 250,000 lots last Wednesday, and the share of yuan contracts in glo [...]

Amid concerns that the US decision to withdraw from Iran nuclear deal will lead to the loss of close to $40 billion in contracts for Boeing and Airbus, Russian airplane builders have a historic opportunity to receive a new foreign market for its latest designs. On Tuesday afternoon, in a move condemned by Tehran, most of the US's allies and much of the international community, President Trump ann [...]

Beijing has officially opened its new train route to Iran, as the US urges its companies to wind down their operations with the Islamic Republic. As US President Donald Trump hardens his confrontational attitude to Tehran, tearing up the 2015 nuclear deal and calling for a new sanctions regime, China is more than ready to grab the opportunity for trade by opening a new international railroad conne [...]

Donald Trump claims he is the master of the deal. But when it comes to Iran, it is the art of no deal. The reasons the American president withdrew from the nuclear deal ranged from lies and disinformation to outright political propaganda. Trump claims he has made America safer – a dubious claim. Closer to the truth is probably an attempted forced regime change in Iran. CrossTalking with Mohammad [...]

Donald Trump’s trashing of the Iran nuclear deal this week was not just an attack on Iranian sovereign interests. The US president was also poking European allies in the eye. In abruptly withdrawing the US from the international nuclear treaty, Trump warned that his administration was preparing to re-impose harsh sanctions on Tehran, and that those sanctions would also hit European commercial in [...]

Donald ‘Art of the Deal’ Trump demonstrated he can make ‘em as well as break ‘em by pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal. Of course, he risks causing more chaos in the Middle East, but that is what US presidents tend to do. Perhaps the most shocking thing is the level of surprise there appeared to be at Trump’s decision, as if nothing like this has ever happened before. [...]