Crude Combat: Riyadh Reduced Oil Prices to Hurt Russia, Iran

By reducing oil prices, Saudi Arabia is waging a secret war against Russia and Iran, according to political analyst Bassam Tahhan.

In an interview with RT, political analyst Bassam Tahhan said that Saudi Arabia and the other countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council are trying to force down oil prices in order to harm Iran and a number of other oil-producing countries, including Russia.

"A secret war is being waged by Saudi Arabia and Gulf Cooperation Council states which are slashing oil prices so as to strangle Iran, Russia, Algeria and Venezuela, as well as the entire 'anti-American' axis created by these countries," Tahhan said.

He explained that all those countries had refused to adhere to Washington's demands with regard to Ukraine, Syria and Yemen.

Journalist and political analyst Caleb Maupin says that Saudi Arabia is deliberately manipulating oil prices…

— Non Disclosure (@Non_Disclosure) 17 января 2016

According to Tahhan, the oil spat between Riyadh and Tehran is unlikely to lead to a war, given Iran's military potential and the sheer territory of the country.

@InfographicsIts this is how #Brent #oil prices affects #Russia and #SaudiArabia #GDP pic.twitter.com/ToLmqNnctl

— ABC Economics (@StefanoFugazzi) 16 января 2016

What's more, he said, Saudi Arabia will fail to prod the UN or the West to issue a resolution to condemn Iran and authorize invasion of the country.

Rather, Saudi Arabia itself may be attacked by Iran's allies, such as Yemen, a scenario that Tahhan said may see Saudi oil fields destroyed and oil prices rise.

Thanks to low oil prices & the Saudis failing adventure in Yemen, Saudi Arabia could sooner or later become bankrupt — unthinkable before.

— W. (@WasAlRahman) 26 января 2016

At the same time, he noted that the United States is unlikely to say "no" to the war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, because Washington could supply arms to both parties to the conflict.

Earlier this month, international business analyst Ralph Winnie told Sputnik that Saudi Arabia has dropped its oil prices to try and wreck the Iranian economy and keep Tehran's oil exports out of major European markets.

"The Saudis are looking to gain a competitive advantage: this is a response to the lifting of Western economic sanctions on Iran, which allow the Iranians to reenter the global energy marketplace," he said.

His remarks came after the Saudi oil giant Aramco announced that it would cut oil prices for Europe, apparently in preparation for Iran's resumption of oil exports to the region later this year.

He was echoed by Executive Intelligence Review senior editor Jeff Steinberg, who said in a separate interview with Sputnik that by slashing their oil prices, the Saudis were targeting US and Russian oil producers as well as the Iranian ones.