Iran aims warning at U.S. oil bid to Saudis
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran on Sunday asked fellow OPEC members to “refrain from any unilateral measures” to increase oil production beyond the 1 million additional barrels of crude a day it already agreed to, a warning to Saudi Arabia after President Donald Trump said the kingdom would increase production.
The request came hours after at least 11 people, mostly police, were wounded in southern Iran after security forces confronted people demonstrating over scarce water. Residents of Khorramshahr, some 400 miles southwest of Tehran, say salty, muddy water is coming out of their taps.
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh wrote to United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Suhail Mohamed al-Mazrouei, who now is serving as president of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. The letter, published by the Iranian Oil Ministry’s news agency, did not directly name Saudi Arabia, Iran’s Mideast rival.
“OPEC decisions by no means warrant any action by some of its member countries in pursuit of the call for production increase by U.S., politically motivated against Iran,” Zanganeh wrote. “As we are all in agreement to depoliticize our efforts in the OPEC, we should not let others take politicized measures targeting OPEC’s unity and independence.”
Members of the oil cartel led by Saudi Arabia and non-cartel members have agreed to pump 1 million barrels more crude oil per day.
Oil prices have edged higher because of unrest in Venezuela and fighting in Libya, but also because the Trump administration has pushed allies to end all purchases of oil from Iran after the U.S. pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal. The deal eased sanctions and allowed Iran to sell its crude oil again on the international market.
The country has needed the cash to boost its infrastructure, including in Khorramshahr, part of the oil-rich Khuzestan province. The demonstrations over water there began peacefully on Friday, with protesters chanting in both Arabic and Farsi.
But late Saturday and into early Sunday morning, protesters began throwing stones and confronting security forces, according to widely shared online videos. State television aired images of rocks and broken glass covering sidewalks, as well as smashed ATMs. Women and children fled as gunfire echoed.
Heavy machine-gun fire could be heard in one video showing demonstrators dragging away a man who couldn’t walk. Another video appeared to show a man carrying a Kalashnikov assault rifle on the back of a motorcycle near protesters.
State TV reported Sunday afternoon that “peace had returned” to Khorramshahr, and an unspecified number of protesters had been arrested. It said some demonstrators carried firearms during the unrest.
It’s unclear what sparked the violence. Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli told journalists Sunday that there had been no deaths. A deputy to Fazli later said the violence wounded one civilian and 10 police officers, according to the semiofficial ISNA news agency.
“Such protests are directed by the propaganda of opportunists from places and people that are recognized by us as foes,” Fazli said. “You observe how they are fueling such incidents in the foreign media and in the cyberspace these days.”
The Iran Meteorological Organization estimates 97 percent of the country is facing some form of drought. Analysts also blame government mismanagement for diverting water away from some farmers in favor of others.
“Although Iran has a history of drought, over the last decade, Iran has experienced its most prolonged, extensive and severe drought in over 30 years,” said a recent report by the Food and Agriculture Organization, a United Nations agency.
Anger at the government is also fueled by the Iranian rial plunging to 90,000 to the dollar — double the government rate of 42,000 — as people watch their savings dwindle and shopkeepers hold onto some goods, uncertain of their true value.
Information for this article was contributed by Jon Gambrell of The Associated Press.