ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iran’s oil revenue has dropped over $100 billion over the past three years, Iran’s oil minister said in the government economic coordination headquarters during a meeting on Sunday.
“In addition to US sanctions and the special circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic, falling oil prices intensified the decline in government revenues, so that during the three years of economic war, the country's oil revenues fell by more than one hundred billion dollars,” read a report issued by Bijan Zanganeh, according to Iran’s presidential website.
Iran was slammed with extreme sanctions back in 2018 when former US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and began a “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions in a bid to force Tehran to make a new deal that would also address its ballistic missile program and regional activities.
As a result of the sanctions, Iran has steadily walked back on its nuclear commitments and is now enriching uranium up to at least 60 percent, far above the 3.67 percent limit set in the agreement. Iran has said it would return to its commitments under the deal, but only in exchange for a full lift on US sanctions, a request that the US has rejected on multiple occasions.
Hassan Rouhani, the outgoing president of Iran, also criticized the economic war in his Sunday statement, commending the Iranian effort.
"The success record of the government in this unequal battle with the sanctions is considerable," Rouhani said.
Later on Monday, the President said that US sanctions “which were wrong in the first place” will be lifted soon, adding that “foreign investment would pour into the country and the free trade zones in Iran should serve as a mobilizer in this regard.”
State media also reported that the President hailed Iran’s resistance over the course of the past 3.5 years of “economic terrorism by the US.”
The President’s remarks come as the sixth round of talks in Vienna aimed at bringing the US back to the JCPOA and for Iran to return to full compliance with its nuclear obligations ended on Sunday.
Iran's deputy foreign minister on Sunday voiced optimism saying a deal is closer than ever.
Iran’s foreign ministry expressed optimism on Monday as well.
"It is not unlikely that the next round will be the final round, we have to see if all parties make their decisions or not," Ministry Spokesperson, Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a press conference. “The draft is unambiguous and we have reached a clear draft in all working groups. What remains is a political decision rather than a negotiation, and if decisions are made, we can hope to be in the final round of talks."
However, Khatibzadeh reiterated that Iran would not accept any extra commitments.
"In the Vienna talks, we will not accept any more commitment than what is written in the JCPOA, and we will not consent to any profit less than what is foreseen in the JCPOA. We are very serious in this regard,” he said.
