Foreign Policy: Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Oil

Saudi Arabia serves as an essential worldwide oil producer, especially to Iran. Recently, the Saudi Arabian government has considered constraining oil prices that will perhaps weaken Iran's budget, especially for nuclear power. While Iran depends on oil prices around $90, the price of oil is now fumbling around $70-80. Since Saudi Arabia is affiliated with many other countries on the oil front, international affairs could change between certain connected nations.

The U.S. also depends greatly on Saudi Arabia as an oil supplier. This recent idea to attempt to damage Iran's budget could be an indirect request of the United States. Through Saudi Arabia's oil trade with Iran, the U.S. could second-handedly decrease Iran's budget to help prevent Iran from producing nuclear weapons. This circumstance is a display of the complications of trade and how the motivations of one country can be executed through another. It shows each nations' incentives, biases, and alliances with one another. In this case, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. could share a common opinion towards Iran. On the other hand, Iran could identify the threat imposed on itself by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.