Meir Javendafar analyzes another blow to the Islamic Republic:
For Iran’s leaders, the margin of error for the economy is far smaller than for its foreign policy standing and influence. The recent news that China has scaled back its investment in Iran’s gas and oil sector should be particularly worrisome for Iran’s leaders — possibly worse even than events unfolding in Syria, because this directly impacts Iran’s economy, which gets majority of its income from its energy exports.
With majority of the world’s oil companies shunning Iran because of sanctions, China was one of the last countries which stood by Iran and its energy sector, which is in desperate need of investment and technological know-how. According to a study in a U.S. National Academy of Sciences publication in 2007, Iran could run out of oil for export by 2015. Lack of investment in the energy sector is one of the major reasons for this forecast.
Source: The Daily Beast
