Iran sanctions

Are Iran Oil Sanctions Waivers Relief for Tehran or Leverage for Washington?

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The United States has signaled it will issue a one-month waiver allowing limited sales of sanctioned Iranian oil, aiming to calm global markets amid heightened geopolitical tensions. While the move may offer Tehran short-term relief, it ultimately reinforces Washington’s control over Iran’s oil revenues and exports. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the measure as […]

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

US seizure of tanker off Venezuela may squeeze Iran’s shadow oil trade

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The seizure by US forces last week of an oil tanker in the Caribbean for allegedly transporting sanctioned oil from Iran and Venezuela may signal a policy shift that could endanger the funding of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Iran’s budget for this fiscal year had given the sprawling paramilitary body new economic power by

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

Iran bets on petroleum products for sanctions-busting profits

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Dalga Khatinoglu Oil, gas and Iran economic analyst Tehran is shifting its sanctions-busting strategy away from crude oil toward more lucrative and less scrutinized petroleum products to boost revenues even as restrictions tighten. Iran’s oil and petroleum product revenues jumped 16 percent to almost $66 billion in the fiscal year ending March 2025, according to

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