Saudi Arabia is allegedly putting pressure on its allies in the Persian Gulf to disrupt trade links with Iran, Press TV reports.





The kingdom was strongly opposed to�the nuclear deal with�Iran and after�failing to�secure the deal; the Saudis are now turning to�new methods of�disrupting Tehran�s business activities.
�Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have reportedly banned Iranian-flagged vessels from�entering their waters and imposed other shipping restrictions,� Press TV reported.


Nevertheless, some observers noted that the Saudis� effort is unlikely to�have an impact on�the overall business relationship between Iran and its allies.


The latest figures show Iran's oil exports will rise by�nearly 60 percent from�a year ago in�May, indicating that Tehran is retaking market share at�a faster pace than�analysts had projected.

Iran�s sales to�Europe are rising fast, while loadings to�Asia have already grown to�levels not seen since�2012.
One of�the key allies of�Saudi Arabia is the United Arab Emirates. It has strong trade and business relations with�Iran. The bulk of�Iran�s imports from�the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which amounted to $37 billion in�2015, were exports from�the UAE.


Even before�the nuclear deal, Iran�s economy had been on�a strong recovery path, according to�Press TV. President Hassan Rouhani said the country's economy is set to�grow in�surplus of�five percent this year.
Looking at�the demographics, Iran has a population of�over 80 million. This provides the country with�huge opportunities as�the world�s last unexploited major frontier market.


According to�Press TV, Iran�s labor force is relatively well-educated and Iran�s economy is more diversified than�other oil exporters in�the region.

Furthermore, Iran is already integrated into�the Persian Gulf economic systems and there is hardly anything that Saudi Arabia can do that can seriously disentangle that, Shashank Joshi, a senior research fellow at�the Royal United Services Institute in�London told Bloomberg.
Joshi further said the Saudis can�t do much to�block Iran at�the global level, but�they�re �applying pressure on�Iran wherever they are able to�do so, to�limit its political and economic influence.�



By Sputnik