Iranian MP: Country's oil sales have decreased by 20 times

According to Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, Iran's oil sales have decreased by up to 20 times. The member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Parliament believes that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must find a way out of this situation.

Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh said that Iran's oil sales are facing a 20-fold decline, and this is an important issue that the Iranian Foreign Ministry must change, "designing a strategy and acting in such a way that the country can take new steps in the first year of the end of the economic downturn to solve some of the people's problems."

A member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Parliament, who commented on Hassan Rouhani’s announcement of the fourth step in reducing the JCPOA commitments in an interview with the Khaneh Mellat News Agency on Tuesday, November 5, said that in his opinion, the JCPOA has entered a “winter sleep” and that “the fourth step’s jolt is not serious enough to disrupt the winter sleep that governs the JCPOA and create new conditions.” According to Falahatpisheh, this sleep began when Rouhani’s trip to New York did not yield any results.

The Iranian president announced on Tuesday that he would take the “fourth step in reducing JCPOA commitments” starting tomorrow, Wednesday, November 5. According to him, “gassing centrifuges” at the Fordow nuclear facility will be the Islamic Republic’s fourth step in reducing its commitments under the nuclear deal. Following the announcement, Europe and Russia expressed concern about the collapse of the JCPOA. The Islamic Republic had given the remaining members of the JCPOA, especially European countries, until November 4 to fulfill their “banking and oil commitments” to Tehran and take “practical steps” to facilitate banking transactions and the sale of Iranian oil.

Continuing his interview with Khaneh Mellat, Falahatpisheh said: "We cannot wait for new diplomacy in the area of ​​the JCPOA because priorities have changed, Trump himself is involved in impeachment, the Europeans are involved in Brexit, and the Middle East is also involved in unrest in countries that each face their own challenges."

As a result, according to Falahatpishe, the Iranian nuclear issue is no longer the focus of Western media and diplomacy, but at the same time, the problem of the sharp decline in Iranian oil sales persists and puts pressure on the Iranian economy and the people of this country.

After the US withdrew from the nuclear deal in May last year, sanctions that had been lifted or suspended against Iran were reimposed. The US has said the aim of tightening sanctions is to reduce oil exports to zero and apply “maximum pressure” on the Islamic Republic in order to bring Iran to the negotiating table. The prospect of these talks is said to be reaching a new agreement that will permanently end concerns about Tehran’s nuclear program, regional activities and missile programs.

In the months before the US withdrew from the nuclear deal, the Islamic Republic exported an average of more than two and a half million barrels of oil per day.

According to previous reports, Iran's oil sales have fallen to 300,000 barrels per day in recent months. Some estimates have put this figure at 200,000 barrels or even less.

Source: DW