OPEC oil output cut exemption a victory for Iran

After two days of talks at the OPEC headquarters in Vienna, OPEC and non-OPEC countries, including Russia, reached the deal on Friday to slash their output from January 1, 2019 in a bid to raise crude prices. However, Friday's deal exempted Iran, along with Venezuela and Libya.

Dean Henderson, a political commentator, said that “there is probably a victory for Iran really to get the exemption because of the medieval sanctions that have been placed on it by the United States; so, Iran comes out of this in pretty good shape.”

The fact that Iran got the exemption shows the Iranians could come to the top at the OPEC, while Saudi Arabia’s influence on the organization did not allow other member states to have their voice heard, Henderson noted.