Did Iran make out better from the war? | CNN Business

Months of war and a blockade have battered Iran. Its navy is at the bottom of the Persian Gulf. Its air force is destroyed. Its economy is in ruins. Still, after the dust settles, the Iranian regime may end up in a better financial situation than before the war started. The 14-point memorandum of understanding between Iran and the United States includes an un-freezing of Iranian assets, significant sanctions relief, a massive cash investment and permission for Iran to sell its oil. Much remains uncertain about the agreement that US officials say will be signed in Switzerland on Friday. Nevertheless, the financial incentives could give the Iranian government the funds to rebuild the economy and potentially normalize relations with foreign investors. That would be a gamechanger. Most crucially and immediately, the agreement reestablishes the regime’s primary economic engine: selling oil. Now that sanctions are lifted, Iran can freely sell tens of millions of barrels of oil sitting in floating storage on oil tankers. It can probably also sell roughly 2 million barrels of oil a day – about a third more than the country was selling before the war, according to Jorge Leon, head of ge