ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iran’s oil revenue dropped to $8 billion during the last Iranian year mainly due to mounting US sanctions, Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri said Saturday.
Speaking at an event for Iran’s Martyr Foundation, Jahangiri said that the country has suffered greatly under US sanctions, which he described as a “virus several times worse than coronavirus.”
The reimposition of US sanctions was the culmination of a conspiracy by the country’s arch foes Israel and Saudi Arabia, the vice president added.
“We were a country that used to earn $100 billion dollars from oil [annually], however the total revenue for 1398 (year ending mid-March 2020) was $8 billion dollars," Jahangiri said.
US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal in May 2018 and reimposed most of the sanctions on Tehran later that year. The impact of the fresh sanctions became apparent in May 2019 when the US ended eight oil import waivers, reducing Iran’s oil export to less than 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 2.8 million bpd in April 2018.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) placed Iran’s 2018 oil revenues at $60.2 billion.
Tehran has said it would withdraw from the nuclear deal if it did not receive foreign aid, and has taken consistent steps in recent months to backtrack from its commitments under the agreement.
Iran appealed to global powers last week to oppose the US extension of a UN arms embargo on the Islamic Republic which is set to expire this October as part of the 2015 nuclear deal.
“We expect the four permanent members to stand against this conspiracy, for global interests, global stability,” said President Hassan Rouhani, also labeling the UN resolution an “American conspiracy.”
Washington ended nuclear cooperation waivers for countries working at Iranian in May, dealing a further blow to the Islamic Republic.
The waivers allowed states, including Russia, China and various European countries to continue working at approved nuclear facilities without being hit by US sanctions.
The “maximum pressure campaign” launched by the US has crippled the country’s economy and left many Iranians unable to buy basic supplies, including preventative equipment to shield from the novel coronavirus.
“The sanctions have exerted enormous pressure on the people of Iran, the economy was damaged but it was not destroyed and it is still standing on its feet. Life for people has become difficult but the government is trying to relieve these pressures,” Jahangiri added.
