Iran is considered an energy superpower. It is a nation rich in oil with one major consumer. While Iran’s money was used to fund Hamas’ attack on Israel, Iran largely gets its money from China.
Because of China’s backing and an ease of U.S. sanctions, Iran’s finances are healthy — as is the financial support terror groups receive from the Iranian regime.
Iran’s economic dependence on the Chinese Communist Party has accelerated in recent years. In 2017, Iran was exporting oil to many nations. By 2023, its oil industry became solely reliant on China, with 91% of its oil shipped there. In the last three years, exports to China have tripled, in turn stabilizing Iran’s economy.
There was a mass exodus of Iran’s oil consumers in 2018. Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal and imposed heavy sanctions to deter other countries from doing business with Iran. Exports went from 2.8 million barrels per day to as low as 100,000 barrels per day. Iran’s oil revenue is slowly increasing again under the Biden administration.
Since the beginning of Biden’s administration in 2020, sanctions from the Trump administration gradually eased and were not enforced as President Biden tried to negotiate with Iran to enter another nuclear deal.
Exports of Iranian oil have been increasing. In recent months, Iran’s oil has been performing its best in years. In September, Iran regained its position as the world’s third-largest crude oil producer with exports as high as 3 million barrels per day in August, according to OPEC.
Iran is making more money and spending it places that go against America’s best interest. According to a 2018 study by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Iran spends about $16 billion per year to support Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza.
Hamas is a terror group receiving hundreds of millions of dollars from the Iranian regime. They are the group behind the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Ever since the war began, tensions between the U.S. and Iran have flared once again.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is looking to rein in Iran’s finances, starting with calls to permanently refreeze the $6 billion the U.S. was going to give Iran access to as part of a prisoner swap exchange.
More than 100 lawmakers sent a letter to Biden asking him to impose more aggressive sanctions and block Iranian oil sales to China knowing how reliant Iran’s is on trade with the Chinese Communist Party.
