As is well known, one reason for the gid-dying rise in oil prices is the fear of a messy conflict over Iran because of its suspected ambition to build atomic bombs. The danger is not simply of a cut-off in supplies from Iran, the world's fourth-largest exporter, but of a prolonged threat to the wider Gulf region, which accounts for 40% of oil traded on the world's markets. Yet if everyone believed the warmongering noises coming from both Iran and its critics, the price of oil would be higher still.
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