Iran should worry about itself

The New York Times:

Pressure Increases on Iran’s Fragile Energy Industry

Political and economic pressure from the United States and other Western governments has chilled foreign investment in Iran and is now squeezing the country’s long-fragile energy industry at a time when consumption is booming. The squeeze is adding strains to a government that is burdened by sanctions and yet wants to prevent unrest at home.

• Iran will have no oil left over to export within a decade
• Its oil exports, totaling $47 billion last year, account for half the government’s revenue
• Iran might have no more oil to export by around 2015
• The government plans to begin rationing gasoline in March
• Iran has signed no firm oil or gas contracts with foreign investors since June 2005, when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected president and began flaunting the country’s nuclear ambitions and renewing tensions with the West
• The country is forced to import 40 percent of its gasoline