November 08-2013
Iran has publicly criticized Iraq for raising its oil output after the US and EU imposed sanctions to stop countries from buying Iranian crude. This was strange because Iran has only said nice things officially about Iraq for years and keeps any criticism private. Furthermore, it has been more than a year since Iraq started boosting its crude output. It is possible the new government is planning on taking a harder line toward Iraq. Oil Minister Bijan Namdar-Zanganeh said Iraq’s raised output “is not friendly at all.”