

Iran is selling more oil but making less money
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Iran exported more oil in 2025 than it had done in years, smuggling crude in defiance of sanctions, mainly to China. At the same time, the regime’s profits from the commodity collapsed.
The falling price of global crude compressed prices, but the decline was largely driven by a web of middlemen and buyers taking advantage of the regime’s precarious position and dependence on oil revenue. They know Tehran has few other ways to unload its sanctioned oil apart from through its shadow fleet, a global network of aging tankers that the Trump administration is pursuing with sanctions and special forces. Now, those involved in the Iranian oil trade are demanding even higher fees for handling the crude.
Buyers are also increasingly exploiting the restrictions on Iran to get the sanctioned oil at even deeper discounts. The drop in oil revenue is sharpening the economic crisis in Iran that triggered days of deadly protests—the biggest challenge to the Shiite leaders in their more than four decades in power. This month, the U.S.
imposed new sanctions on Iran in response to its government crackdown on protesters, inflicting penalties on individuals and entities linked to “laundering the proceeds of Iranian petroleum and petrochemical sales to foreign markets," the Treasury said. The threat of U.S. military action against the regime appears to have receded for now, though Trump administration officials say all courses of action are still on the table.
Read on livemint.com