In-depth
Steel sanctions cut deep into Iran's economy
The ever-tightening sanctions on the Islamic Republic are taking a heavy toll on the country's industries. write Silvia Antonioli and Jonathan Saul for Reuters.
Short of major currencies, some Iranian steel buyers have resorted to barter deals. But explicit sanctions imposed by the European Union on Oct. 15 on sales of steel, aluminium and other key materials have prompted some traders to halt all sales and Iranian businesses now face rising prices and scarce supply. Given steel's central role in the economy, in the skeletons of new buildings or for constructing machinery, disruption to trade in the metal may cause far-reaching damage – exactly the aim of the Western powers who want to prevent Iran developing nuclear weapons and reject its denials that it has any such aim.
A Smart Car Dream in Israel—Not So Smart, After All?
Shai Agassi's plan to get 100,000 totally electric vehicles on Israel's roads by 2016 has not quite materialized, writes Karl Vick in Time.
Israelis’ skeptical attitude about the paradigm-changing car muddies the question of exactly what’s going wrong with Better Place. Clearly Aggasi, a native of Israel who found early success in Silicon Valley, made maximalist promises. Agassi not only promised 4,000 cars would be on the road in Israel this year, and 64,000 in 2015, he predicted the electric car would surpass gas-powered vehicles by 2020, shifting $10 trillion from one industry to another in the course of a decade. On the spectrum running from enthusiastic marketing to starry-eyed prophecy, Aggasi could go from zero to 60 in four-point-three seconds.
Daily Digest
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- New York Times: My President Is Busy
- Washington Post: Foreign tests for Obama
- Wall Street Journal: Jordan Said to Help Arm Syria Rebels
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