I wonder how annoyed the other Gulf states are with Iran for accelerating the transition away from oil.
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@david_chisnall I can imagine UAE going "we shifted to a service economy for this?"
@david_chisnall
It is an economic decision
Likewise, I wonder how annoyed Putin is with Trump for the same thing.
This war is the first thing Trump's done that doesn't seem to be directly in Putin's interest. Yes, it's weakening the US, which Putin likes. But Iran was one of Russia's few allies. And Russia depends on oil sales almost as much as the Gulf states. Honestly can't figure out what Putin is making of any of this.
Well, the war has put up oil prices and Trump has tried to lower them by removing the sanctions on Russian oil, so I think Putin's doing pretty well out of it. Oil revenue is now flowing into Russia in large quantities. And, unlike the gulf states, Russia is sitting on large amounts of other raw materials and so is far less dependent on oil exports in the longer term. It also doesn't look as if there's actually been much impact on Iran's ability to supply Russia with drones and so on.
@david_chisnall @marymessall AIUI, Russia now manufactures drones locally to Iranian designs.
Depending on military supplies from a country lagely the other side of the one you're at war with? Do I need to explain it like you're Donald Trump?
(OTOH, both Russia and Iran have ports on the Caspian Sea, so as long as Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan turn a Nelsonian eye ...)
@david_chisnall they should even more piss-off against US, shouldn't they?
@gdupont Oh, they are already. But Iran was always in a fairly precarious position, being a Persian Shiite country surrounded by Arabic Sunni neighbours. Their primary defence strategy was to constantly remind the nearby countries that they all hated Israel more than they hated Iran. And, in the current conflict, Isreal is helping them a lot with that. But Iran’s blockade is the thing costing them revenue and cutting off future demand.
