Written by Lloyd Chebaclo (Source: National Iranian American Council (NIAC)

Washington, DC- NIAC held a Capitol Hill briefing on October 27 to discuss the likely consequences of new petroleum sanctions with House and Senate lawmakers and staff. The briefing came one day before the House Foreign Affairs Committee approved legislation that attempts to impose "crippling" sanctions on Iran. 

Hossein Ebneyousef, a consultant at International Petroleum Enterprises spoke about Iran's capability to adapt to sanctions measures targeting its petroleum sector.

Ultimately, he argued, sanctions proposals will actually benefit the Ahmadinejad government at the expense of the Iranian people. 

According to Ebneyousef, US sanctions would actually benefit Ahmadinejad  by enabling the Iranian government to scale back on costly subsidies, saving the government money while providing them an excuse to blame the U.S. for cutting their imports of oil.

With regard to gasoline production, Ebneyousef said that despite the commonly-cited figure that Iran imports 40% of its gasoline from foreign sources, the actual figure is lower--and dropping fast. 

According to Ebneyousef, Iran will be self-sufficient in a couple of years, especially given its increasingly strong ties to China. 

He cited the inefficacy of past sanctions in deterring the Iranian government while benefiting its hardliners.

The briefing is part of NIAC's US-Iran Policy Program, which is supported by the Ploughshares Fund, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the Kenbe Foundation.

... Payvand News - 10/29/09 ... --

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