Days after Iran tested a ballistic missile in a northern desert, newly-inaugurated U.S. President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on individuals associated with the program producing non-nuclear rockets capable of reaching Israel, as well as the United States. The new round of targeted measures will do little to affect Iran’s now-growing oil industry, which has reestablished its standing as the third-largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) following its economic liberation. The missile test is at least the fifth of its kind since the Middle Eastern nation’s 2015 deal with a group of superpowers to provide international access to the country’s nuclear program in exchange for the removal of crippling multilateral sanctions on its economy. Since January 14th, 2016 – when sanctions against its oil sector were lifted – Iran has defiantly rebuilt its lost oil output, at times at the expense of an OPEC agreement to […]