Iran’s President-Elect Raisi Rules Out Meeting Biden As Oil Markets Look To Nuclear Deal’s Future

• Iranian President-elect Ebrahim Raisi gave his first press conference since the country’s election, saying Monday his priorities would be to improve ties with regional neighbors and revive the 2015 nuclear deal — while at the same time squarely ruling out meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden. 
• The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, brokered by the Obama administration, lifted sanctions on Iran that had crippled its economy and cut its oil exports roughly in half. In exchange for billions of dollars in sanctions relief, Iran agreed to dismantle some of its nuclear program and open its facilities to more extensive international inspections. 
• Tehran has since ramped up its nuclear activity far beyond the deal’s limits in what it says is a protest against the sanctions — sanctions that Washington says it will not lift until Iran reverses its increased nuclear activity, such as increased uranium enrichment and stockpiling.
• The deal “if revitalized, would provide a substantial lift to Iran’s economy — it could plausibly expand by 8-10% per year in 2021-23,” Jason Tuvey, senior emerging markets economist at London-based consultancy Capital Economics, wrote in a note before the election. But he added that its higher crude production would pressure other dynamics in the region. 
• “Higher Iranian oil output would act as a drag on global oil prices and could prompt governments in the Gulf countries to keep fiscal policy tight, weighing on their recoveries,” Tuvey said.

(Source: CNBC News)