According to industry trackers, Iranian oil exports have dropped by half in the weeks since US President Donald Trump ended a waiver program that allowed eight countries to purchase crude from Tehran despite US sanctions. The Islamic Republic’s oil exports in May have fallen to some 500,000 barrels per day (bpd), down from about 1 million bpd last month and 2.5 million bpd in April 2018. The bulk of Iranian crude is reportedly heading to Asia, although it remains unclear whether countries such as India and China are still buying the product or Tehran is storing supplies abroad. Meanwhile, Reuters cited one source as saying that Iran had halted oil shipments to Turkey and the European Union, which has vowed to do everything possible to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal from which Trump exited last May. Iran has about 10 percent of the world’s proven oil reserves, and the regime has long relied on these revenues to finance government programs such as subsidies on food and other consumer goods. Analysts have attributed Iran’s recent threat to itself withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal to the financial pinch, which they claim has induced Tehran to raise regional tensions by proxies to attack Saudi assets.
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