🇮🇷 Kpler’s data on Iranian oil exports is suddenly under a microscope after attention turned to the politics of one of its most prominent Iran analysts. Homayoun Falakshahi, who leads Kpler’s crude oil analysis team, uses Iran’s pre-1979 Pahlavi-era flag on his X profile, which

🇮🇷 Kpler’s data on Iranian oil exports is suddenly under a microscope after attention turned to the politics of one of its most prominent Iran analysts. Homayoun Falakshahi, who leads Kpler’s crude oil analysis team, uses Iran’s pre-1979 Pahlavi-era flag on his X profile, which has prompted questions about his political sympathies and the perceived neutrality of Kpler’s Iran coverage. He has also been a key voice behind Kpler’s claim that Iranian crude loadings fell to zero in September under the U.S. naval blockade. That doesn’t make the numbers wrong. Other tanker trackers, including Bloomberg and Vortexa, have also reported a halt in Iranian loadings. But when politically sensitive, market-moving data relies heavily on analysts with openly held views on the country they cover, people are inevitably going to start asking harder questions about neutrality. Writer: Ian