Iran VP Blames Sanctions for Fueling Shadow Oil Trade

Iran's Vice President Mohammad Jafar Ghaempanah has spoken out about the impact of sanctions on the country's oil trade. In an interview with ISNA, he acknowledged that selling sanctioned Iranian oil relies on middlemen and opaque networks.

This system creates opportunities for fraud and allows powerful interests to profit from sanctions, according to Ghaempanah. He likened the process of circumventing sanctions to trafficking, saying Iran cannot sell its oil through normal channels.

Ghaempanah explained that the government is unable to conduct transactions through ordinary, transparent banking channels due to sanctions. This forces them to rely on intermediaries to move oil and return the proceeds, resulting in commissions for middlemen and a risk of money going missing.