Iran lawmaker says old budget and currency policies no longer work

Igor Sechin, chief executive of Russian oil producer Rosneft, said US oil companies are the main beneficiaries of the Iran war because they are selling oil at higher prices, Reuters reported.

Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Sechin said US oil and gas companies could receive more than $60 billion in additional profit this year, citing estimates by Rystad Energy.

Sechin, a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, also said China was the country best prepared for a possible closure of the Strait of Hormuz because of what he described as its balanced energy security policy and realistic assessment of risks.

He said any closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global oil and gas exports, would amount to an attempt to change global energy market regulation in US interests.

Sechin also said OPEC+ had lost some of its potential after the withdrawal of the United Arab Emirates from the alliance.

A Politico opinion piece by Daniel Miller said Iran’s World Cup appearance in Los Angeles is forcing many Iranian Americans to choose between celebrating their heritage and rejecting the Islamic Republic, whose flag appears on the national team’s jerseys.

The piece focused on Los Angeles, home to the largest Iranian community outside Iran, and said some Iranian Americans do not see Team Melli as representing the Iranian people because they view it as tied to the Islamic Republic.

“I cannot stand the Islamic Republic flag at all,” Los Angeles restaurateur Roozbeh Farahanipour told Politico, adding that more than 20 of his friends and relatives had been killed by the Islamic Republic. “To me, this is not the Iranian team; this is the Islamic Republic’s team.”

Politico also cited exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi as saying football had become “a weapon” in the Islamic Republic’s “war against the Iranian people.” Pahlavi called on fans attending the World Cup to show solidarity with Iranians.

The article said the pre-revolution lion-and-sun flag, widely used by opponents of the Islamic Republic, has become common at protests in Los Angeles but is banned by FIFA under restrictions on political expression by fans.

Iran is scheduled to play New Zealand and Belgium at SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles before facing Egypt in Seattle.

The team’s base camp was moved to Tijuana, Mexico, and that it will fly in and out of the United States for matches, in part because the US government did not want the team staying in the country.

The piece also noted the possibility of a politically charged US-Iran knockout match in Dallas if both teams finish second in their groups.

Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry condemned renewed Iranian attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait after seven ballistic missiles were launched toward the two countries early Saturday and intercepted.

The ministry said the attacks were a “flagrant violation” of the sovereignty of both countries, the UN Charter and international norms, and a threat to security and stability in the Persian Gulf region.

It also said the attacks violated UN Security Council Resolution 2817, which it said condemned Iran’s “unjustified attacks” and any attempt to close the Strait of Hormuz or obstruct international navigation there.

“Security is not built with missiles and drones, and stability is not preserved by laying mines,” the ministry said.

Bahrain called on Iran to immediately stop the attacks, move toward peace, open the Strait of Hormuz fully and without restrictions or fees, disclose the locations of naval mines and cooperate in removing them.

The ministry also called for a safe humanitarian corridor to allow civilian vessels to pass and for more than 20,000 stranded sailors to leave safely and return to their families.

Bahrain said it remains committed to peace and stability in the region, but warned that its patience should not be read as weakness and that defending its sovereignty, security and people is a red line.

Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, said Iran’s growing power had reshaped the regional balance and forced President Donald Trump to seek a temporary deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

“The West’s long-feared nightmare has materialized,” Velayati wrote on X, adding that Iran’s rising power had changed the “strategic map.”

He claimed Reuters and The Guardian had acknowledged that Trump needed a temporary agreement to reopen Hormuz, calling it “the collapse of the Iran pressure doctrine” and “a victory for the resistance.”

Velayati also warned regional states against what he described as the “illusion of appeasement,” saying the emerging balance of power would not be built on weakening Iran-backed groups.

“Diplomatic wishful thinking carries a heavy price – lasting peace grows from a balance of power, not from hollow, unbacked commitments,” he wrote.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejected Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s claim that Tehran was using Lebanon as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the United States.

Aoun said Friday that Iran was using Lebanon in its talks with Washington and that the Lebanese people were paying the price for Tehran’s interests.

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  Lebanon emerges as new obstacle to Iran-US talks

“Had Lebanon been bargaining chip for Iran, we’d have a deal long ago,” Araghchi wrote on X on Saturday. “Save Lebanon from your real foe, Mr. President.”

His remarks came as Lebanon has become one of the disputed issues around the US-Iran talks, with Iranian officials and hardliners insisting that any understanding with Washington must address the conflict involving Hezbollah.