TEHRAN – Donald Trump’s latest attempt at eliminating Iran’s oil exports met with responsibilities from Mohajerani, a government spokesman who has not been obsessed with Washington’s unrelenting sanctions and declared Iranians will continue to sell for the past decades.
“Under the sanctions regime, several ministries are at the forefront, with the Ministry of Oil being a key target. Rapid targets and targeted sanctions against Mr. Paknejad show concerns about the ministry’s activities and effectiveness,” Mohajerani wrote in X.
On Thursday, the US Treasury Department issued sanctions against Iran’s oil minister Mohsen Paknejad, several vessels that they said were part of the fleet involved in Iran’s crude exports.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent said in a statement that the sanctions have designated Paknejad and three entities as blocking property for use in the trade, with the three shipping vessels being entitled to Paknejad and three entities in China’s Iranian oil trade.
The fact that the US needs to impose new and updated sanctions suggests that previous efforts have failed, Mohajelani noted. “Oil exports continue. We will not abandon the proportion of Iran’s global oil market.”
The new sanctions were announced the day after Trump’s much-awaited letter was finally delivered to Iran via the visiting diplomat Emirati. The president has said he hopes for a new contract with Iran in his nuclear program since he unraveled what was signed in 2015. He tried to pursue Iran economically through a “maximum pressure campaign” that began with his first term in 2018.
The maximum pressure campaign first brought a sharp charge on Iran’s oil exports. However, Iran was able to win sales the following year, with China’s biggest customer. China imported record amounts of Iranian oil in February after Trump ordered Iran to “zero” oil exports.
Analysts point out that after decades of debilitating and debilitating sanctions, Iran has hone its art of avoiding or neutralizing them.