In the poker game playing out among global oil producers, Iran is something of a wild card.

In effort to reverse the recent crash in crude prices, big oil exporters like Russia and Saudi Arabia announced this week they’re trying to forge an agreement to tighten global supplies and push prices back up again.

They face a number of major obstacles, including a slowing global economy that has cut into oil demand.

The list includes the imminent return of Iran as a global oil exporter after the lifting of sanctions that had been imposed on Tehran because of its nuclear development program.

It may take some time for the Iranian oil to show up on world markets.

“Iran cannot flip a switch and expect to pump as much oil as it once did,” analysts at Stratfor Global Intelligence said in a report last month. “Iran needs a substantial amount of investment to bring its new fields online — investment that will not materialize for several years.”