Implementation day for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) , an agreement among Iran, the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany), and the European Union (EU), occurred on January 16 when the International Atomic Energy Agency verified that Iran had completed the key physical steps required to trigger sanctions relief. With this milestone, the United States, the EU, and the United Nations have lifted nuclear-related sanctions against Iran, which include oil-related sanctions that have limited Iran’s ability to sell its oil on the global market since late 2011. Sanctions relief will lead to an increase in Iran’s oil production and exports, which had been subject to an EU embargo among other sanctions. Iran’s crude oil production has been relatively flat over the past three years while sanctions were in place, averaging […]