Leverage Without Receipts: Moscow Gas Diplomacy Meets a Hard-Currency Squeeze in Iran's Economic Press
The Iranian Economic Press Review for October 28 finds that Tehran can still help push up world energy prices but struggles to turn that leverage into money it can spend. President Masoud Pezeshkian used the gas exporters' summit in Moscow to condemn U.S. sanctions and met Vladimir Putin and Qatar's emir, but the visit produced commitments without new payment channels or export capacity. Brent rebounded to about $115.47 a barrel after an attack on a Saudi refinery, while Iran's own seaborne exports remain sharply restricted. Kayhan reports a dispute over billions of dollars in oil proceeds that have not come home, the Tehran Stock Exchange fell below 8 million points, and a narrower food-voucher increase has drawn criticism. We assess that the gap between Iran's market leverage and its usable foreign exchange is widening.