USA made an ad hoc deal with Iran to lower the Oil prices before the Presidential elections

According to Israeli intelligence sources USA had secret negotiations with Iran some two weeks ago in order to make a temporary deal concerning the lowering of the oil price and easening the political tensions in Middle East before the US Presidential Elections.

"These talks between the US and Iranian delegations, representing President George W. Bush and Iranian supreme ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have yielded ad hoc understandings on controversial issues. One is an agreement not to allow the price of oil to rocket past $150 the barrel."

The ongoing diplomatic play in order to ease tensions between US and Iran are one of the results of the agreement. The deal is still temporary and it does not bind neither US nor Iran in long run.

The lowering of oil prices during last week is another result of US-Iranian agreement. According to the deal Iran does not allow the price of oil to climb above 150$ per barrel prior to elections. But in long run the situation is far from easy, since an Iranian OPEC delegate told recently that a war in Middle East could raise the price of oil barrel over 500$.

"Iranian OPEC-delegate says that the price of oil could raise up to 500$ per barrel if war in Middle East begins. […]

’–If the inflation of dollar keeps going on and the political crisis enworsens, the price could rise up till 500 dollars’, says Mohammad Ali Khatibi in Iranian Shahrvand-e-Emrooz magazine.

The question was about predictions that oil price could rise up to 200 dollars per barrel in two years. Crude oil price has dropped more than 24 dollars in two weeks.. […]

According to Khatibin the exportation of Iranian oil is endangered if the nuclear energy programme launches a military attack against Iran. [...]

’-In that case (of war) the price of oil doesn't rise but explodes’, he says.

Approximately 40 percent of the oil transportation of Persian Gulf go through the Strait of Hormuz on the southern coast of Iran. In case of war Tehran has threatened to begin to limit the traffic in the strait."

In other words the situation behind the scene is still the same. US Republican government has managed to ease economic pressure prior to the elections in order to help republican senator McCain to win.

A similar view had the White House spokesman Sean McCormack, who thinks that easening of the pressure put on Iran is a mere change in diplomatic tactic rather than in US strategy. Barack Obamas recent statement that he would like to begin straight bilateral negotiation with Iran could also affect, since the change in tactic can be seen as a republican answer to Obamas challenge.