The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of[a] Meshek and Tubal; prophesy against him 3 and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, Gog, chief prince of[b] Meshek and Tubal. 4 I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army—your horses, your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords. 5 Persia, Cush[c] and Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets...
10 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil scheme. 11 You will say, “I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people—all of them living without walls and without gates and bars. 12 I will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock and goods, living at the center of the land.
(Ezekiel 38)
The situation on the world market of oil is reminiscent of a game of tennis with the participation of four players. Russia and Iran play in tandem to raise oil prices, while the tandem of the United States and Saudi Arabia has a goal to cause oil prices to collapse. The players realize that the winner will dictate rules of the game in world politics.
Interestingly, German Gref, the head of Sberbank, announced a possibility for world oil prices to decline last Friday, September 13. Twelve hours later, Houthi rebels attacked Saudi oil refineries and caused panic at oil exchanges around the world.
One may assume that someone - and it is not hard to guess who exactly - sent a message to the world through Houthi rebels that it is not Washington and Riyadh, but Moscow and Tehran that will be putting prices on hydrocarbons in the future.
Moscow has recently announced a possibility of joint Russian-Iranian exercises in the Gulf region. Twenty-five years ago, one could not even think that this could be possible. Now the reality has Moscow and Tehran conducting a joint military operation in Syria against ISIS* to consolidate the power of Bashar al-Assad.
Moscow supports Iran because the possible confrontation between Tehran and Riyadh, the transformation of the Arabian monarchy into a hotbed of instability with Yemen adding more fuel to the fire will push oil prices up to $100 per barrel and higher. In this case, even US strategic oil reserves will not cause oil prices to slide.
The USA may conduct massive air strikes against the Houthis in Yemen. This scenario does not seem feasible before the US presidential election in 2020. Short-sighted US officials also urge to bomb Iran's military facilities.
In the meantime, Tehran is building ambitious plans to create the so-called "Shiite Arc" - to open a corridor to the Mediterranean Sea and create its base in the Syrian port of Tartus. In addition, the Iranian administration believes that the Iranian Navy should be present in the Indian Ocean. Finally, in the event Shiite Houthis succeed in Yemen, Iran will secure access to the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. The implementation of this plan will become a nightmare for Israel and Saudi Arabia.
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