MOSCOW, March 11. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump dangles lifting oil sanctions on Russia to tame soaring gas prices as Israel casts a nuclear shadow over the Middle East war. Meanwhile, US intel told the White House pre-war that decapitating Iran would not upend the regime there. These stories topped Wednesday’s newspaper headlines across Russia.
US President Donald Trump announced he may lift oil sanctions on some countries after he held his first phone call since December with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. The call came amid alarming news for the US economy from the Persian Gulf. As the US-Israeli war on Iran intensifies, the Iranians are attempting to block the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for oil supplies. Mojtaba Khamenei, who is presumably ready for a drawn out battle with the United States, was selected as Iran's new supreme leader. In its turn, the US has intensified strikes on Iran. All this has pushed oil - and gasoline, as regards US consumers, - prices up, forcing Trump to consider how to lower them ahead of this year’s midterm elections in the US. However, the US leader’s ability to ease sanctions is restricted by both the American legislation and the current political situation.
