Clenched Unworriedly Thanks To A Sanctions-Busting Drop In Gasoline Imports

Iran gasoline import slump softens sanctions blow:

Oct 18 (Reuters) - Iranian gasoline imports have slumped by as much as 95 percent over the last four years, according to official government data, as rising refinery capacity and lower fuel subsidies help neutralize western sanctions aimed at starving Tehran of fuel. Iran's inadequate refinery infrastructure and rampant internal demand intensified Iran's gasoline import dependency until 2007 -- a vulnerability that western governments have targeted by blocking fuel supplies to pressure Tehran over its disputed nuclear programme... Thanks to fuel rationing, a four-fold pump price hike and Iran's increasing ability to refine its own oil, the share of imports in Iran's gasoline supplies has dipped from around 40 percent a few years ago to less than 5 percent, putting pressure on Washington and Brussels to find new ways to squeeze Tehran economically.

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