Trump will reverse Iran's oil sale rises seen under Biden, says US energy minister

The Trump administration will ensure the enforcement of sanctions on Iranian oil exports in a bid to return to the levels seen in the President's first term after sales rose under Biden, according to the country's energy minister.

“When he was president last time, Iranian oil exports shrunk down to very modest levels. Biden didn’t remove those sanctions, but he stopped enforcing them," Chris Wright told Bloomberg on Monday.

“That enriched Iran. And now we’ve seen what’s happened with the Houthis, Hezbollah and Hamas. It’s been mayhem. So is President Trump looking to stop the mayhem and bring peace to the world? Absolutely. Can we afford the squeezing off of Iranian oil exports? Absolutely.”

The move would be part of Trump’s renewed "maximum pressure" campaign, aimed at cutting Iran’s oil exports to zero in a bid to force Tehran into talks over its nuclear program.

Last week, Reuters reported that the Trump administration is considering a plan to inspect Iranian oil tankers under an international accord designed to curb the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

Washington has blacklisted more than two-thirds of the 150 vessels that transported Iranian crude last year.

More than half of the tankers sanctioned by the United States have ceased operations outside Chinese or Iranian terminals, an investigation by Iran International revealed last month.

US sanctions on tankers and companies involved in Iran's oil trade are slowing shipments to China but trade with one of Iran's most important allies continues in 'dark mode' in spite of maximum pressure, according to a Bloomberg report on Sunday.