Media

Home page

Media

U.S. sanctions slashed more than $10 billion from Iran's oil revenue: U.S. official

25 April 2019 06:58 (UTC +04:00)

U.S. sanctions against Iran have denied its government more than $10 billion in oil revenue since President Donald Trump first announced the move last May, a U.S. official said on Thursday.

Brian Hook, U.S. Special Representative for Iran and Senior Policy Advisor to the Secretary of State, made the comment during a call with reporters days after Washington said it would end all exemptions to the sanctions. The United States demanded importers halt purchases from Tehran from May 1 or face punitive action, ONA reports quoting Reuters.

“Before sanctions...Iran generated as much as $50 billion annually in oil revenue. We estimate that our sanctions have already denied the regime more than $10 billion since May (2018),” Hook said.

The United States re-imposed sanctions against Iran’s oil exports last November after Trump last spring unilaterally pulled out of a 2015 accord between Iran and six world powers to curb Tehran’s nuclear program. But Washington initially allowed the eight biggest buyers of Iranian oil limited imports for another half-year.