Iran Financial News

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Iran had just opened up e-visas for Indian travellers, but ours quickly got rejected. I read on forums that it was common to get an e-visa rejection, no reasons given. So we set about charting the archaic, long-winded route to get a physical visa at the embassy: get a visa code through an Iranian travel agency, file an application with travel documents at the Iranian consulate in Mumbai and submit medical test results for TB and HIV.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The third gulf war should, in theory, be a huge blessing for big oil. In January most analysts had expected Brent crude, the global oil-price benchmark, to average $60 a barrel in 2026. It ended the first quarter at $118; refined products have risen faster still.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The global jet-fuel crunch is hitting Asia’s low-cost airlines harder than their full-service counterparts. Governments should prepare financial or operational support to avoid further flight cancellations during the busy summer travel season—as well as outright shutdowns like the collapse of America’s Spirit Airlines.Discount carriers like Malaysia’s AirAsia, Indonesia’s Lion Air and Cebu Air of the Philippines are already bearing the brunt of the energy shock. Policymakers must consider targeted measures in the form of loans, grants or fuel price relief.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: Caution is returning to small-, and mid-cap stocks after last month’s sharp rally, with experts warning that stretched valuations could leave the segment vulnerable to even minor macroeconomic and earnings shocksThe BSE Smallcap index rose nearly 20% in April, while the BSE Midcap index gained almost 14%, their strongest monthly performances since May 2014. In comparison, the Sensex rose 7%.But the rebound has been uneven.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.President Trump’s threat to raise tariffs on European cars is a warning for investors and U.S. trading partners that the Iran war hasn’t dissuaded him from his trade agenda or his willingness to strong-arm allies through economic pressure.Trump said Friday that the U.S. would increase tariffs on European cars and trucks to 25% from the 15% level that was agreed to as part of a preliminary trade deal last summer.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.New Delhi: India is tapping alternate trade routes to facilitate movement of cargoes—exports as well as energy imports—moving shipping lines at some of the West Asian ports not affected by the Strait of Hormuz blockade amid the ongoing US-Iran war, said a government official on Wednesday.Speaking to reporters, Opesh Kumar Sharma, director in the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways, said India and West Asian countries are taking these options to ensure least interruption in trade between the Gulf region and India, including fuel shipments, at a time when the Strait of Hormuz, a key channel for 20% of global oil and gas trade, remains largely closed.Alternate shipping services have been operationalized in the backdrop of the West Asia crisis, he said, with shipping lines including CMA CGM (Compagnie Maritime d'Affrètement - Compagnie Générale Maritime), Unifeeder and AP Moller-Maersk connecting Indian ports such as Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority, Mundra and Hazira to Sohar (Oman), Fujairah (UAE), and Khorfakkan (UAE) in West Asia."So, there are many places which have been activated. The cargo is moving,” he said.The industry and the government have noted issues related to trade routes, and the reduction in congestion at the ports indicated “normalization”, Sharma said.West Asia and North Africa (Wana) is a key region for India for energy imports and non-oil exports.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Just a few weeks ago, the case for gilt funds, which hold government bonds with long tenures, seemed compelling.A sharp rise in government bond yields had made valuations attractive, market sentiment had turned very pessimistic, and several fund managers argued that much of the concern around elevated borrowing and supply pressures was already priced in.Government bond yields rose amid inflation fears stoked by the West Asia war. A rise in yield means a drop in prices, making gilt funds attractive.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: For India, the fallout from West Asia conflict, while negative for the macro-economy, would remain manageable if a final peace deal is reached by mid-May.Any extension beyond that could push up oil price expectations and have a more severe impact, not just on the macro, but also on earnings for the current fiscal, which are otherwise expected to hold up better than the economy in the context of the war, according to Sanjeev Prasad, managing director and co-head, Kotak Institutional Equities.In an interview to Mint, he also explained why foreign investors continue to pull out despite valuations correcting.Edited excerpts:It is a little bit of a challenge as of now. The hope was that the West Asia war would end by early April...then mid-April and at the end of last month we were hoping for mid-May.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.DUBAI—President Trump chose to look the other way after Iran launched three salvos of missiles and drones into the United Arab Emirates, one of America’s main Middle Eastern partners, despite a cease-fire he negotiated nearly a month ago.The likely conclusion in Tehran, Gulf governments fear, is that further escalation pays off because Trump is so intent on extricating himself from the war that he will ignore renewed Iranian attacks on America’s regional allies.European and Asian nations—allies and strategic adversaries alike—are watching this closely, too.Ever since the war began on Feb. 28, Iranian leaders have frequently repeated a phrase, attributed to the deposed Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, that “those who wrap themselves in America are naked.” The feeling in the U.A.E.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.At this point, the Gulf war has started to seem like a series of missed deadlines and hollow pronouncements. What began as a two-week truce on April 8th is now approaching its fifth week. Donald Trump claims he can ignore a law that requires the American president to seek congressional approval for wars that last longer than 60 days (this one began 65 days ago).

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.During the Tanker War of the 1980s, Iran used missiles, mines and speed boats to assert its control over the Strait of Hormuz. Back then, it took an extensive naval operation, including the destruction of command posts on offshore oil platforms by U.S. Marines, to break Tehran’s hold.This time around, in addition to its earlier playbook, Iran has a legion of attack drones which are serving as a significant force multiplier.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.China escalated its fight against the U.S. over Iranian oil, defying American sanctions in a show of resistance ahead of President Trump’s visit to Beijing planned for next week.Beijing has typically been wary of being seen to openly violate U.S. sanctions, even as privately run Chinese refiners, known as “teapots,” buy nearly every barrel of oil Iran exports.But China’s Commerce Ministry on Saturday told companies not to comply with the U.S.’s blacklisting of several Chinese refineries over alleged purchases of Iranian oil, invoking for the first time a 2021 “blocking rule” designed to counteract foreign laws it believes violate international norms or restrict trade.“It sends a broader message that China is willing and can resist what it views as unilateral and unfair sanctions that hurt Chinese interests,” said Dylan Loh, a professor at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University who studies China’s foreign policy.The U.S.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.For a little over two months now, the world has speculated on the impact of the Israel-US-Iran war on the world economy. As the war’s disruption stretched on, concern began turning into panic over energy and food security. India is in a particularly vulnerable position—both directly, given its high energy dependence on West Asia, and indirectly due to the ripple effects of various impacts across the world.India’s large import dependence makes adaptive responses to economic and social impacts of the war enormously challenging, especially in the immediate time-frame of two years.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.As the economic consequences of US President Donald Trump’s war against Iran become evident, policymakers around the world are running out of patience. The recent Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington made this abundantly clear, with UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves lamenting the “folly” of a war that is “not ours.”But much of the cost will be borne by the US itself. The immediate effects are visible: a sharp rise in gas prices, inflation climbing to a two-year high and growing concerns that, as consumers cut back on spending to offset higher costs, unemployment will rise.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.President Trump’s desire to end the Iran war is being put to the test after Tehran fired at American warships on Monday and violently disrupted a U.S. effort to revive shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.U.S. officials say Trump for days has toggled between two competing impulses: severely punishing Iran for failing to abandon its nuclear work, and avoiding a significant escalation that could draw the U.S.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Crude oil, the undistilled kind right out of the ground, was known to the Mesopotamians, Persians and Babylonians. The Chinese were the first to dig shallow wells and transport flammable oil through bamboo pipelines. Canadian geologist Abraham Gesner was the pioneer who began to distil oil and coined the term ‘kerosene’ in the mid-1850s.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.TOKYO—One of the major surprises about the gravest energy shock since the 1970s is how resilient much of the world has been so far.The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has yanked around 13 million barrels of oil a day from global energy supplies. Blackouts have hit Pakistan, the Philippines has imposed a four-day workweek, and countries including Slovenia and Bangladesh have rationed fuel.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.President Trump said Sunday the U.S. would start guiding commercial ships out of the Strait of Hormuz where they have been trapped by the war between the U.S.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.How soon will the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raise rates and how high will it take them? Those have become urgent questions for bankers in Mumbai after elevated energy-import costs pushed the rupee to a record low last week. RBI governor Sanjay Malhotra has signalled a preference to stay on pause. The central bank would step in, he said in an 18 April speech at Princeton University, “through its influence on inflation expectations rather than through blunt demand compression,” a euphemism for monetary tightening.Still, Malhotra’s cheap-money era is likely drawing to a close, thanks to the pressure from the foreign-exchange market.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has disrupted not just oil and gas supplies, but caused a global fertilizer shock as well. Of the world’s traded fertilizers, more than 40% of urea and 20-30% of potassic and phosphatic fertilizers—as well as 45% of the sulphur that goes into fertilizer manufacture—are shipped from Gulf countries via that vital waterway.The blocked region also accounted for a fifth of all traded liquefied natural gas (LNG), some of which was feedstock for urea, before traffic through the strait came to halt. A shortage of all these products threatens food production and signals higher food prices globally, with hunger a distinct likelihood in countries that rely on imports for nutrition.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Pakistan has stepped up to play a useful role in mediating between the United States and Iran in attempting to bring the latest West Asian war to an end. It should not surprise us that the Pakistani establishment, which has a culture of geopolitical risk-taking, has turned adversity into an opportunity.Not only does the continuation of the war mean economic disaster, there is a real chance that Pakistani armed forces can be summoned to a war that they do not want to fight.