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The U.S. State Department said it is eyeing measures to clamp down on Iran’s oil exports amid rising worries about Tehran’s vow to take revenge against Israel for the killing of a top Hamas leader.
Despite the tightening of sanctions on the Islamic Republic’s economy in recent years, the country’s exports of crude have steadily risen. According to data from analytics firm Kpler, its oil sales rose 30 percent in the last quarter alone, taking its fossil fuel shipments to a five-year high.
In comments to POLITICO, a U.S. State Department spokesperson defended the existing restrictions on the trade as hurting Iran because “sanctions evasion is very costly—paying middlemen, laundering money, and so on. We assess that the Iranian regime receives only a fraction of the revenue from its oil sales as a result.”
However, the official added, new efforts to squeeze Tehran’s cash flows are on the table and “as Iran continues to escalate tensions in the region, we will work with partners to further pressure Iran and reduce their oil exports.”
Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Iran had been sending cargoes of fuel to a growing number of new customers, including those it hasn’t previously done business with like Oman and Bangladesh. The conflict in the Middle East has driven up oil prices as traders fear a widening war could affect supplies in the future.
The White House has faced calls from both Republicans and Democrats in Congress to strengthen enforcement of sanctions on Iran as hostilities flare in the wake of Israel’s offensive in Gaza. However, President Joe Biden’s administration has faced a difficult balancing act in keeping pressure on Tehran while also ensuring gasoline prices don’t jump ahead of the election in November.
Expectations that Iran could launch a new wave of attacks on Israel have grown after Ismail Haniyeh, the political chief of Palestinian militant group Hamas, was killed in an explosion during a visit to Tehran two weeks ago. Iran has accused Israel of orchestrating the assassination and pledged a “harsh and painful response.”
On Monday, the U.K., France and Germany published a joint warning in which they cautioned Iran against further destabilizing the situation. Tehran and its allies, they said, “will bear responsibility for actions that jeopardize this opportunity for peace and stability.”
In April, Iran launched a barrage of around 300 rockets and drones against Israel in response to a bombing at its consulate in Damascus that killed a senior Iranian commander. Most of the missiles were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system, but Western leaders cautioned that the move brought the region closer to an all-out war between the two sides.
