Iran reported raking in nearly $16 billion in profits from its illicit oil trade over the past several months, highlighting the Biden-Harris administration’s perennially lax enforcement of sanctions meant to stymie Tehran’s cash flow.
Tehran exported a total of "$15.7 billion worth of oil in the first four months in the Iranian calendar" year, which lasted from March 21 to July 22, Mohammad Rezvanifar, the head of Iran’s Customs Administration, said on Monday. Most of this crude oil was offloaded in China, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, and India, according to the country’s state-controlled press.
Iran’s illicit oil trade, which is heavily sanctioned by the United States and other Western nations, has hit a boom period under the Biden-Harris administration, topping around $90 billion as of March. This cash has helped to keep the hardline regime afloat amid economic uncertainty and helps Tehran fund its network of terror proxies, including Hamas and Hezbollah.
China has long been Iran’s top oil client, with exports routinely crossing 1 million barrels per day. While sanctions are in place to stop this trade, the Biden-Harris administration has come under fire for turning a blind eye to Tehran’s oil exports as part of a bid to ease diplomatic tensions with the hardline regime. The United States also has granted several sanctions waivers that permit Iraq to pay Iran upwards of $10 billion in backed electricity payments, cash that lawmakers and experts say is fueling Tehran’s proxy war against Israel.
"Policymakers must connect the dots: Iran's unprecedented oil sales have occurred because for nearly four years, the Biden-Harris administration stopped enforcing U.S. sanctions," said Andrea Stricker, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank. "Tehran and its proxies have used this revenue to attack Israel, U.S. troops, and global shipping."
"Essentially, Washington is underwriting the Iranian regional mayhem it seeks to contain, including Hezbollah's horrific weekend attack on northern Israel."
That attack—a missile strike on a soccer field—killed 12 Israeli civilians, most of them children, and came after the administration spent years working to keep the Jewish state from confronting Hezbollah.
Iran’s access to hard currency remains a top concern for American policymakers, primarily Republicans in Congress, who are examining ways to stop Tehran from funneling arms to its regional terror proxies. When Iran has money at its disposal, it is able to more easily send weapons to groups like Hezbollah. The terror group's Saturday strike marked the deadliest attack on Israel since Oct. 7.
The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen also continue to wreak havoc on international shipping lines around the Persian Gulf, cutting off supplies and firing missiles at American military positions in the region. Iranian ships ferrying crude oil, however, continue to operate with impunity.
"While global supply routes have been seriously affected by the Houthi attacks, Iran’s oil trade, especially to its number one importer, China, has continued unabated," United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) reported in early February, shortly after an Iranian-orchestrated attack killed three American service members. "For January 2024, Iranian exports to China hit 1 million barrels per day. The revenue from these sales is fundamental not only for the regime’s survival but also as a critical source of funds disbursed to its terror proxies, including the Houthi movement in Yemen."
Exports to China continued to surge in 2024, Reuters reported this week, with a total of 45 million barrels being offloaded into Beijing's markets.
Iran operates a "ghost armada" composed of at least 395 oil vessels. In 2020, when the Trump administration was waging its maximum pressure sanctions campaign on Tehran, that fleet had around 70 ships.
Other sectors of Iran’s economy also have grown in recent months.
Around "$800 million worth of gold ingots were imported into the country from March 21 to July 22, 2024," according to Iranian state media. An additional "$7.7 billion worth of the petrochemicals were exported from the country between March 21 to July 22, 2024."