US wants to slash Iran oil exports by more than 90% in maximum pressure campaign

Treasury Secretary says Tehran could face ‘severe economic distress’ if oil exports return to levels seen during first Trump term

The US is aiming to reduce Iran's oil exports by 90 per cent, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. Reuters

The US is aiming to reduce Iran's oil flows by more than 90 per cent as part of President Donald Trump's “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday.

“We are committed to bringing the Iranians to going back to the 100,000 barrels-a-day of oil exports” shipped during Mr Trump’s first term, Mr Bessent told Fox Business.

Mr Bessent said Iran is currently exporting between 1.5 million and 1.6 million barrels of oil per day.

Mr Trump signed a memo last week directing the Treasury Department to impose “maximum economic pressure” on Iran to prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The order is similar to a stance Mr Trump took during his first term in office, which cut Iran's oil exports from roughly three million barrels per day in 2017 to about 400,000 in 2019.

During the first Trump administration, Washington exerted its maximum campaign after withdrawing from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a deal aimed at preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The US re-imposed the sanctions that were lifted under what Mr Trump called a one-sided deal that would not prevent Tehran from developing the technology.

Mr Bessent said he believes Washington is able to impose “maximum economic pressure” on Iran.

“If we get them [Iran] back to Trump 1.0 levels, I think they will be in severe economic distress," Mr Bessent said.

“Their economy is quite fragile right now,” he added, referring to the nation's high inflation and “gigantic” budget deficit.

He also claimed that revenue from Iran's oil exports is being used to fund “terrorist activity”.

The Treasury Department issued sanctions against three tankers in the days following Mr Trump's announcement last week.

During his interview, Mr Bessent also said the department would ramp up sanctions on Russian energy if directed by Mr Trump.

Mr Trump's order also directed the State Department to "modify or rescind existing sanctions waivers" and collaborate with Treasury to implement the maximum pressure campaign.

Experts have suggested that the US cannot drive down Iran's oil exports to near-zero levels without taking aim at intermediaries, as well as end-buyers in China.

“The Chinese, perhaps Indians, are perhaps buying the sanctioned Iranian oil and that is unacceptable,” Mr Bessent said.

Mr Trump has said he hopes to work out a deal with Iran, whose foreign minister responded by suggesting that negotiations cannot be done under his maximum pressure policy.

"Negotiation cannot be carried out from a weak stance, as it will no longer be considered negotiation, but will be a kind of surrender. We never go to the negotiating table this way," Iranian state media reported Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi as saying this week.

Iran's crude oil production was reported at 3.28 million barrels per day in January 2025, according to CEIC data.

Experts have said that Opec's plans to continue its voluntary production cuts are unlikely to be affected by the US maximum pressure campaign, and that the alliance has enough space to absorb the roughly half million barrels per day that would be taken off the market.

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  New generation Iranian centrifuges on display for Iran's National Nuclear Energy Day in Tehran, in April 2021. Iranian Presidency Office / Wana

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  President Ebrahim Raisi, second right, is accompanied by Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran chief Mohammad Eslami, at Nuclear Technology Day in Tehran in April 2022. Iranian presidency / AFP

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  Mr Raisi and Mr Eslami at the April 2022 event. Iranian presidency / AFP

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  The Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant during a visit by Mr Raisi in October 2021. Iranian Presidency / AFP

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  Iran's Arak Heavy Water Reactor complex, south of the capital Tehran in January 2020. Maxar Technologies / AFP

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  A satellite image of Iran's Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in January 2020. Maxar Technologies / AFP

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  A satellite image of Iran's underground Natanz nuclear site in May 2022. Planet Labs PBC / AP

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  A satellite image in January 2020 of Iran's Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, north-east of the city of Qom. Maxar Technologies / AFP

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  The Sanjarian nuclear centre, east of Tehran, in May 2021. Maxar Technologies / AFP