Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, elected on a pledge of prosperity and ending the country’s global isolation, is facing the largest fall in oil prices since the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. Officials are warning of further spending and investment cuts to next year’s budget, which Rouhani unveiled on Dec. 7 and is based on $72-a-barrel crude instead of the current year’s $100. Even that new, lower forecast is proving to be unrealistic, with Brent crude , the world benchmark, trading for less than $46 on Tuesday. The Islamic Republic’s leaders will prefer to absorb the blow in the form of reduced prosperity rather than let it affect nuclear policies, said Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, an economics professor at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia , who specializes in Iranian affairs. “Iran will stumble along with less growth and development,” Salehi-Isfahani said. “The oil-price fall is not reason enough for Iran to […]