Hook: Sanctions Have Cut Over $10 Billion From Tehran’s Oil Revenue
The US State Department’s representative on Iran says sanctions imposed by the Donald Trump administration against Tehran have “cut over $10 billion from Iran’s government oil revenues” since last year.
Donald Trump, the president of the United States, formally announced on May 8 last year that his administration would withdraw from the nuclear agreement with Iran and reinstate suspended sanctions against Tehran.
Tehran, the Barack Obama administration, and five other countries reached an agreement in July 2015 known as the “JCPOA,” as a result of which Iran’s nuclear program was restricted and sanctions were lifted.
Trump described this agreement as “one of the worst deals” he had ever seen and after winning the election, as he had promised, he withdrew from the “JCPOA.”
According to Reuters, Brian Hook, the US State Department’s representative on Iran, said on May 26 in an interview with journalists that “before the sanctions… Iran earned about $50 billion from oil sales. Our estimates show that since May last year (US withdrawal from JCPOA), the sanctions have cut over $10 billion from this revenue.”
With the US withdrawal, American sanctions against Iran were reinstated in two phases, with the second phase in November including oil sanctions.
When implementing oil sanctions, the US granted eight countries six-month exemptions to purchase Iranian oil, but now it has refused to renew them.
The most important buyers of Iranian oil, who also benefited from the exemptions, were China, India, Turkey, South Korea, and Japan.
In the meantime, China and Turkey have objected to cutting off trade and criticized the US decision not to renew exemptions and its threat to sanction buyers of Iranian oil.
Japan said the end of oil exemptions has “limited consequences” for its economy. South Korean companies said they are “prepared” to deal with the consequences of stopping Iranian oil, although South Korea’s state news agency says Iranian oil is important for South Korean petrochemical production. India said it will receive “alternative sources” from other oil sellers.
US officials have emphasized that their goal is “maximum pressure” on Iran’s government to “change Tehran’s behavior.” Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State, has set 12 conditions that cover a wide range of demands, including Iran’s actions in the region, support for militias, missile tests, nuclear program, and other issues.
Washington says that to achieve its “maximum pressure campaign,” it wants to bring Iranian oil sales “to zero.”
In response, the leader of the Islamic Republic said “we can export as much oil as we need and want,” and the foreign minister of the Islamic Republic also said in an interview with Reuters that Tehran has become experienced in ways of circumventing sanctions.
Nevertheless, American officials say they are confident that buyers of Iranian oil, including China, Iran’s most important oil buyer, will “find alternatives to Iranian oil.” They are meanwhile conducting negotiations with Seoul to find alternatives to Iranian oil. It appears Japan has currently turned to other buyers.
Before extensive sanctions against Iran that began years ago during the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran exported up to four million barrels of oil. Before the 1979 revolution, this figure even reached six million barrels per day. It is estimated that Iran’s oil exports have currently fallen to around one million barrels.
Source: Radio Farda
