Iran's resistance stiffens as US pressure grows
Minor incidents in and around the Gulf have failed to trigger a major conflict, but diplomats are struggling to ease tensions
An "evil maturity" of US sanctions has tightened around Iran, according to oil minister Bijan Zanganeh, making conditions worse than during the Iran-Iraq War. The government has limited options on the economic front, but the means to strike back diplomatically and militarily. Prior to the re-imposition of sanctions in November 2018, oil exports were running at about 2.7mn bl/d. April was the last month before the expiry of all US waivers, and Iran exported almost 1.2mn bl of crude and condensate, though some of this was delivered to storage. China took almost half of the total, India another quarter, and Japan, South Korea and Turkey the rest. In May, this was slashed to barely 0.5mn bl/d, v
Also in this section
9 January 2026
OPEC+ remains on track as output falls, with only Gabon failing to hit its output targets in December, although Kazakhstan’s compliance was involuntary
9 January 2026
The Latin American producer’s crude prospects rely on a multi-pronged approach where even the relatively easy wins will take considerable time, effort and cost
9 January 2026
While many forecasters are reasserting the importance of oil and gas, petrostates should be under no illusion things are changing, and faster than they might think
8 January 2026
Indonesia and Malaysia are at the dawn of breathtaking digital capabilities. Their energy infrastructure must keep up with their ambitions
