The Geopolitical Causes of High Oil Prices - Eric Rouleau analyses the conflict between Iran and the USA over nuclear

The security of the Gulf depends to a great extent on the future of relations between Iran and the US; thus the keen interest in the situation in those countries in the region whose economies depend on the supply of petrol. And the feeling of relief since a military intervention against the nuclear installations in the Islamic Republic began to be considered less and less likely, at least in the foreseeable future. In order to block the Iranian nuclear project, Washington has two other options: to negotiate and if that fails to impose international sanctions on the regime in Tehran. This second options remains unlikely given the opposition in the Security Council of Russia, China and perhaps even France. And there are good reasons for this: Washington has not been able to prove either that Iran is on the way to producing atomic bombs or that it has violated the rules of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, of which it is a signatory.