Iran Energy

Aerial view of a ship docking at an industrial port with storage tanks in North Jakarta.

China refiners turn to Russian oil as Iran faces rising uncertainty

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China appears to be replacing disrupted Venezuelan oil shipments with Russian crude rather than Iranian barrels, despite steeper discounts being offered by Tehran. According to data from commodity intelligence firm Kpler, shared with Iran International, China discharged an average of 1.138 million barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian crude at its ports this month—about 115,000 […]

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Iran’s Ghost Fleet Crisis: $10 Billion in Stranded Oil and the Mounting Cost of Sanctions

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Roughly 170 million barrels of Iranian oil now sit in maritime limbo, circling the globe in what appears less a sanctions workaround than a strategic reserve. It’s enough crude to meet Japan’s energy needs for 50 days — or to fund Iran’s entire annual cash subsidy programme twice over. IOD’s analysis of shipping and energy

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Tehran’s oil lifeline shows signs of strain under tightening sanctions

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Iran’s oil exports declined sharply at the start of 2026, new tanker-tracking data show, raising fresh questions about the durability of Tehran’s most important economic lifeline under renewed US sanctions pressure. Crude oil loadings from Iran’s Persian Gulf terminals fell to below 1.39 million barrels per day in January, a 26 percent drop from a

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Iran’s Energy Chokepoint: Why Kharg Island Puts Tehran at Risk

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Despite decades of sanctions, military threats, and strategic warnings, nearly all of Iran’s oil exports still flow through a single island—and one of the world’s most volatile maritime chokepoints. As regional tensions escalate, this dependency has become one of the Islamic Republic’s most dangerous structural liabilities. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has warned that any future conflict will

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Why Iran may not afford to close the Strait of Hormuz

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ehran’s frequently invoked threat of closing the Strait of Hormuz may be far easier to signal than to carry out, not least because it would harm allied China more than the hostile West. For now, the threat is muted as Iran and the United States have returned to the negotiating table. But the shadow of

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How Israeli technology could help solve Iran’s water crisis

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By Joseph Epstein and Dalga Khatinoglu Iran is facing a water emergency that hydrologists and environmental experts warn may now be irreversible. Major reservoirs are depleted, groundwater reserves are collapsing, and senior officials are openly warning of citizens rationing water and even evacuating the capital due to water shortages. While the crisis is often attributed to drought or

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Iran’s energy trade defies year of US maximum pressure sanctions

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One year after US President Donald Trump returned to the White House and revived the “maximum pressure” sanctions on Iran from his first term, available data show the country’s energy exports remain largely intact. Data from the commodity intelligence firm Kpler, seen by Iran International, show that in 2025 Iran delivered an average of 1.38

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Why Arab States Are Trying to Prevent a U.S. Attack on Iran

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Amid growing speculation about a possible U.S. military strike on Iranian targets—triggered by the horrific killing of thousands of protesters by Iran’s security forces—American news media report that Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Oman are lobbying Washington to prevent military action against Iran. Oman’s foreign minister visited Tehran on January 10, 2026, at the height of the protests, just two

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It’s the economy: grim livelihoods explain Iranian anger

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The fate of the Iranian economy is increasingly shaping debates about the country’s future—one that may prove decisive regardless of how its current political struggles unfold. Public frustration over rising living costs has once again spilled into protests across the country, shining a harsh light on how state resources are allocated and managed. As demonstrations

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2025: Trump–Khamenei’s Lose-Lose Standoff Over Oil Exports

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The Donald Trump administration’s actions since the beginning of 2025 to increase pressure and sanctions on the Islamic Republic with the aim of “halting” Iran’s oil exports have been largely unsuccessful, although this policy has sharply raised the costs for Tehran of evading sanctions. The Trump administration had promised to reduce Iran’s oil exports to

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