ug. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Iran's leaders, threatening to disrupt oil supplies in any confrontation with the U.S. and Europe over a suspected quest for a nuclear bomb, may be pointing a lethal weapon at themselves.
Cutting off the flow of crude would deprive Iran of about $5 billion a month -- by far the main contributor to the country's budget -- at a time when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is on a spending spree to deliver on promises that brought him to power last year.
``In case of sanctions, whether self-imposed or imposed by the United Nations, the president's prosperity program will collapse,'' said Saeed Laylaz, a political analyst and a former economist at the Ministry of Industry and Mines in Tehran. ``Our people are not ready to endure strong sanctions.''
Iran supplies China with 4 percent of its oil; France, 7 percent; Korea, 9 percent; Japan, 10 percent; Italy, 11 percent; Belgium, 14 percent; Turkey, 22 percent; and Greece, 24 percent, according to May data from the Eurasia Group, a New York-based political-risks consulting firm.
Iran buys more than a third of its gasoline from other nations because it has failed to ease subsidies, cut waste and boost refining capacity. ``Iran is rushing to try and limit its dependence on gasoline imports because it knows it makes it vulnerable,'' Matthee said in an interview.
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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=ayxk6vSDx2ik&refer=homeIran will have to impose gasoline rationing in September regardless of world events.
Iran has until the end of August to stop enriching uranium or face sanctions, which can include bans on imported gasoline.
Rock?
Meet very hard place.