U.S. lawmakers are toughening their stance on Iran ’s energy industry with new economic penalties, but experts doubt the Islamic regime will pay much attention and is more likely to open the doors even wider to other players eager to replace fleeing investors.
Long on Congress’ radar screen, Iran is being targeted by two bills: The Senate’s Dodd-Shelby Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act passed in late January; and the House’s Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act approved in December.
The bottom line is these bills, once signed into law by President Obama, will pursue financial institutions and businesses that do business in Iran’s energy sector or help the regime build its refining capacity.
To an outsider, the stakes appear high.
After all, Iran, an OPEC founding member, holds the world’s third-largest proven oil reserves and the world’s second-largest natural gas reserves, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Not to mention, its pariah status in the world makes luring investment difficult at times.
Despite that, the country is not all that concerned about the latest congressional maneuvering, observers charge.
“I think these measures are a good thing to do but let’s be honest [that] the impact is going to be not necessarily immediate, and that the first instinct of Iranian leaders will be to ignore i… >>>
