© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A view shows the logo of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on their headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 2, 2023. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo
By Ahmad Ghaddar
LONDON (Reuters) – Israel’s military offensive in Gaza that followed an Oct. 7 attack by the enclave’s ruling Islamist group Hamas has raised calls in the Middle East, particularly from OPEC member Iran, for using oil as a weapon to punish Israel.
The conflict has led many analysts, oil market watchers and politicians to draw parallels with the 1973 OPEC embargo, when Arab oil producers cut off oil exports to several allies of Israel, including the United States and Britain, following the Israeli-Arab war that year.
Analysts and OPEC sources, however, say that the energy world nowadays is far different from 50 years ago, playing down any possibility of a new embargo.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies led by Russia, or OPEC+, meet in Vienna on Sunday to decide on output policy, and sources have told Reuters that additional output cuts are likely to be discussed.
WHERE ARE CALLS FOR EMBARGO COMING FROM?
Last month, Iranian…
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