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Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman (L) and Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir address the 53rd Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, February 19, 2017. (photo credit:ARIEL HERMONI/DEFENSE MINISTRY/REUTERS)

Iran on Monday rejected Israeli and Saudi claims that the Islamic Republic was a destabilizing force in the region, saying that it came as no surprise that Jerusalem and Riyadh share the same views.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi made the comments after both Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman and Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir each said at the Munich Security Conference on Sunday that Iran constitutes a threat to each of their countries, has not moderated its behavior in the wake of the 2015 nuclear deal and should face renewed economic pressure from the international community.

While the Israeli and Saudi ministers stopped short of saying they would cooperate to thwart Iran, Qassemi said that Jerusalem and Riyadh are already working "hand in glove" in the Middle East and their matching assessments given on Sunday came as no surprise.

The parallelism between the positions of the Saudi foreign minister and the Israeli war minister on Iran is not coincidental. Many instances of evidence indicate coordination between the two regimes in regional cases, Iranian official news agency Press TV quoted Qassemi as saying.

The Iranian official said that Liberman's and Jubeir's claims against Iran reflected their countries' "painful desperation."

Both regimes think they should stir the international atmosphere against Iran as a means of making up for their multitudinous defeats and frustrations in the region, he charged.

Qassemi said that Israel's attempts to enlist a Muslim country in its efforts against Iran were "pathetic."

In addition to Liberman and Jubeir, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif also spoke at Sunday's Munich Security Conference. While Liberman called for an alliance with Sunni states, Jubeir did not directly respond when asked if he envisions a coalition with Israel against Tehran.

Jubeir, who spoke after Liberman and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlet Cavusoglu, pointedly rejected a new Iranian call for a dialogue with Sunni Arab Gulf states, telling the conference that the Islamic Republic is trying to upend the order in the Middle East and seeks the destruction of Saudi Arabia.

The Iranians speak of wanting to turn a new page, wanting to look forward, not backward. This is great, but what about the present? he asked. We cant ignore what they are doing in the region. We cant ignore their constitution which calls for the export of the revolution. How can one deal with a nation whose intent is to destroy us?

Liberman, meanwhile, accused Iran of trying to undermine Saudi Arabia and termed Maj.-Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Force, the No.1 terrorist in the world.

If you ask me, What is the biggest news in the Middle East? I think that [for] the first time since 1948 the moderate Arab world, Sunni world, understands that the biggest threat for them is not Israel, not Jews and not Zionism, but Iran and Iranian proxies, Liberman said, pointing to Hezbollah in Lebanon, Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip and the Houthi militia in Yemen.

Ben Lynfield and Anna Ahronheim contributed to this report.

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Iranian Revolutionary Guard members in Tehran carry the casket of Iran Revolutionary Guards Brigadier General Mohsen Ghajarian, who was killed in the northern province of Aleppo , Syria . (photo credit:ATTA KENARE / AFP)

US President Donald Trump fails to expel Iran from Syria and prevent its expansion, there will be a very negative impact on the United States, Israel and the world, Energy and Water Minister Yuval Steinitz told the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations on Monday.

Steinitz, who is a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus security cabinet, said the world is getting more dangerous and the global order has been under attack since the so-called Arab Spring began.

The most urgent issue and the first big challenge of the Trump administration is Syria, Steinitz said.

The mission of Iran is to make Syria into an Iranian stronghold and an extension of the Islamic Republic.

The last thing we want is to have Iran on our northern border, and it is not a theoretical possibility.

Steinitz said that if Trump manages to prevent such a disaster, it would be an important step that would lead to other initiatives in the region and beyond.

Since world powers made a deal with Iran, he said, the Islamic Republic had expanded operations all over the region.

In Washington there were hopes Iran would moderate itself after the deal, but it only became more dangerous, he said. We had hoped the Iranian nuclear structure would be completely dismantled forever. Instead it was partially dismantled for 10 years.

Steinitz said the most dangerous threats to global order are Iran and North Korea.

While it seems we are much more disturbed by Iran than North Korea, there actually is very strong linkage between the behavior and ambitions of North Korea and Iran, he said. If you fail to contain North Korea, you will have to deal with Iran. If you let North Korea develop more, Iran will follow.

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New York Times

Protests in Iranian City Where 'Everything Is Covered in Brown Dust' New York Times TEHRAN Days of protests over dust storms, power failures and government mismanagement in one of Iran's most oil-rich cities subsided on Sunday after security forces declared all demonstrations illegal. Residents of Ahvaz, a city with a majority Arab ... New Political Unrest in the Oil-Rich Fields of IranAmerican Thinker Man taking selfie among seven dead in Iran stormsArab News Iran's Arab minority holds protests, regime cracks downDaily Sabah all 16 news articles »

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Sen. Lindsey GrahamLindsey GrahamTrumps feud with the press in the spotlight Senators eye new sanctions against Iran Republicans play clean up on Trump's foreign policy MORE (R-S.C.) revealed plansSundayto introduce legislation that would imposefurther economic sanctionson Iran,according to a Reuters report.

Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, mentioned the plans for increased measures during a panel discussion at the 2017 Munich Security Conference.

"I think it is now time for the Congress to take Iran on directly in terms of what theyve done outside the nuclear program," Graham said.

Graham said he and other senators would be introducing a measure to hold Iran accountable for its actions, Reuters reported.

Tehran violated the U.N. Security Council resolutions by testing ballistic missiles earlier this month.

Sen. Chris MurphyChris MurphySenators eye new sanctions against Iran For Trump and Russia, the fall of Michael Flynn is only the beginning Overnight Finance: Trump's Labor pick withdraws | Ryan tries to save tax plan | Trump pushes tax reform with retailers MORE (D-Conn.), who participated in the same conference panel as Graham, said there will need to be aconversation about what the proportional response is" to Iran's missile test.

"I don't necessarily think there's going to be partisan division over whether or not we have the ability as a Congress to speak on issues outside of the nuclear agreement," Murphy said.

Murphy, who serves on theSenate Foreign Relations Committee,also said the U.S. will have to decide its level of involvement in Iran.

"We have to make a decision whether we are going to get involved in the emerging proxy war in a bigger way than we are today, between Iran and Saudi [Arabia]," he said.

Tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalated after Trump sanctioned dozens of Iranian individuals and companies in early February, according to aWall Street Journal report.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif, who also attended the Munich Security Conference, said Iran doesnt respond well to coercion and threats.

We dont respond well to coercion. We dont respond well to sanctions, but we respond very well to mutual respect. We respond very well to arrangements to reach mutually acceptable scenarios, Zarif saidon Sunday, according to anAP report.

Graham blasted Iran, calling it a bad actor that's sending mixed messages.

"To Iran, I say, if you want us to treat you differently then stop building missiles, test-firing them in defiance of U.N. resolution and writing 'Death to Israel' on the missile. That's a mixed message," Graham said.

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Senators eye new sanctions against Iran - The Hill

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Adding further pressure to the attempt to support the price of oil, Iran recently stated it will increase production to 4 million barrels per day by April, approximately 100,000 more barrels per day than it's producing now, according to Reuters, citing SHANA, the official news site of the Iranian oil ministry.

With the amount of supply coming from producers outside of the output cut deal launched in January, it puts even more pressure on the price of oil, which has continued to be in the $50 to $55 per barrel range, with the most likelihood it'll break downward with the fundamentals favoring more, rather than less production going forward.

This is the reason OPEC in particular is already floating the idea of deepening and extending the cut: it isn't working. Only about 50 days into the 6-month deal, it is already considered to be ineffective in producing the desired results.

Iran production in the short term

National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) head Ali Kardor, was recently cited by the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) as saying the country was going to produce 4 million barrels per day by April. That's about 100,000 more than the approximate 3.9 million barrels per day produced in January.

That will probably occur earlier, as Kardor said he sees oil output reaching 4 million barrels per day by the end of the Iranian year, which is on March 20. Either way, this isn't a insignificant amount when considering the U.S. is rapidly increasing production, and Canada and Brazil are expected to add over 400,000 more barrels per day to global supply in 2017.

This also doesn't account for the 500,000 more barrels per day to be added by Libya by August 2017, according to a statement from National Oil Corp., the state oil company.

Jadalla Alaokali pointed out that Schlumberger (SLB) once again started operations several months ago. Libya is now producing over 700,000 barrels per day, after being under pressure from internal strife. It sees output reaching 1.2 million barrels per day by August 2017 and climbing to 1.7 barrels per day by March 2018.

This is a lot of oil coming to the market in the short term when included with Iran's projections. Strangely, the market continues to discount the enormous increase in supply coming in 2017. OPEC now understands it, which is why it's already looking to deeper and longer cuts after the existing deal is completed.

Long-term Iranian production goals

Over the next five years, Iran says it'll drill another 500 wells, with the goal of boosting output to 4.7 million barrels per day. The new drilling will start in March or April.

This plan is more in line with my outlook for growing global demand for oil, which should be rebalanced by that time and the market pressured to provide the needed supply of oil.

At this time Eni (NYSE:E) and Total (NYSE:TOT) should be the major beneficiaries over the long term, of the publicly traded companies working in Iran. Other companies will probably be slow to work or increase their presence in the area until it's clearer how the geopolitical situation with the U.S. plays out.

Conclusion

Iran is another reason investors should take a harder look at the impact of the output cut agreement, which has obviously reached the ceiling of its influence as related to the price of oil. Not only that, the market is ripe for a correction as the outlook for supply continues to increase, while the OPEC deal is seen as very weak and representative of a time when the oil market was much different than it is today.

My thesis has been and will continue to be that the oil market has been completely disrupted with the emergence of the U.S. shale industry, which has propelled the U.S. to become the global oil leader. The amount of oil expected to come from the shale sector, when combined with those producers mentioned above, is easily going to offset the oil allegedly taken off the table from the output agreement.

It's not going to take too long before the market realizes how much oil is coming to the market in the near term, and how ineffective and irrelevant the output cut deal is and will be. OPEC knows this, which is why, again, it's so quickly talking deeper and longer cuts.

Anyone believing all the OPEC and other participants in this deal are going to quietly sit by and see market share ripped out of their hands, in my opinion, have to be completely naive, or have their head in the sand concerning the fact shale has permanently changed the dynamics of the oil market. Don't be one of them.

Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

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Iran Ramping Up Oil Production - For The Short And Long Term - Seeking Alpha