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Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Comparative Journalism: Confusion in Iran

There seems to be some confusion in Iran's policy, concerning the oil embargo. This is reflected in the following news items, plucked from the Fars News Agency website.

Iran Ups Oil Storage Capacity
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran has re-commissioned a new storage facility at a Persian Gulf island as part of its measures to block the impacts of the current embargos imposed by the West on Iranian crude oil, an Iranian oil official stated.


http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9012152795

So clearly, Iran is bracing itself for the impact of the oil embargo. But then, in the very next press statement, we read:

Growth in Iran's Crude Exports Proves Ineffectiveness of Oil Embargos
TEHRAN (FNA)- The latest data shows that Iran has increased its oil exports in the first month of 2012 despite the embargos imposed by the western states against the country's oil sector.


http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9012152785

This can mean a couple of things and we are about to explore them, of course.

1 Iran is lying about the impact of the oil embargo, as a bluff.

2 Iran is building completely superfluous oil stockage capacity. For some reason undisclosed.

3 Iran is not feeling the impact of the oil embargo yet, but prepares for the worst, while producing press statements that are meant to show a stiff upper lip.

Is is hard to tell what is the truth behind this lurching chasm. There is no real way of accommodating both articles, without a sleight of hand. But it reveals some interesting diversity within the news analysis by Mehr.

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