US intends to reduce Iran's oil exports to 10% of current volume, Bessent says

A crew member raises the Iranian flag on Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya 1, previously named Grace 1, in the Strait of Gibraltar, Spain, August 18, 2019.
A crew member raises the Iranian flag on Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya 1, previously named Grace 1, in the Strait of Gibraltar, Spain, August 18, 2019.

US President Donald Trump aims to decimate Iranian oil sales to further weaken its Mideast adversary's economy, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday.

"We are committed to bringing the Iranians to going back to 100,000 barrels per day of exports, as when Trump left office," Bessent told Fox News in an interview.

"Their economy is quite fragile right now. They have massive inflation, they have the gigantic budget deficit ... if we get them back to the Trump 1.0 levels. I believe that they will be in severe economic distress."

Iran exports around 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd), with China by far the biggest buyer. The so-called "maximum pressure" campaign of US sanctions on Iran starting in 2018 during Trump's first term brought exports to as low as 200,000 bpd.

Trump this month reinstated the so-called "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran from his first term, with the stated aim of driving its oil sales to zero.

Beset said the proceeds from oil sales fund Iran's "terrorist activities around the world" and described purchases by China and India as unacceptable.

The US dollar reached a new high against Iran’s currency this week and the current annual inflation rate has hovered at around 40% since 2019 according to official figures, with prices for food and other essentials rising sharply.

A series of stepped-up US sanctions beginning in October on Russian and Iranian tankers, companies and entities facilitating their oil trade is increasingly hampering oil exports which are the main source of revenue for both countries.