On February 5, Mohsen Paknejad, the Iranian regime’s oil minister, claimed that the regime had recorded its highest oil exports in over a decade in January. This claim contradicts data from tanker tracking companies and international organizations.
These remarks by Paknejad came one day after former U.S. President Donald Trump signed an order to “revive the maximum pressure policy” against the Iranian regime. On Wednesday, Paknejad claimed, “In January, we broke the record for oil exports in over a decade; we are announcing this news to make our people happy.”
On February 4, the tanker tracking company TankerTrackers announced that Iran’s daily oil exports in January stood at 1.567 million barrels. This figure is roughly in line with the country’s average oil exports in 2024.
Contrary to Paknejad’s claims, data from the commodity intelligence company Kpler shows that Iran’s oil exports in December were half of what they were in May 2018. At that time, the U.S. government, led by Trump, withdrew from the JCPOA, and Iran’s daily oil exports reached a record of nearly three million barrels.
Estimates by the advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran indicate that Iran’s daily oil exports in January were below 1.4 million barrels. Of this amount, only one million barrels were sent to China, while the rest went to unknown destinations. It is unclear whether these shipments had buyers or not.
At the same time as Pezeshkian’s oil minister claimed to have “broken a 10-year record in oil exports,” Reuters reported that Iran’s oil production had declined for the second consecutive month. In January, oil production fell by 60,000 barrels compared to December 2024.
Goldman Sachs, one of the largest financial firms in the United States, has predicted that with the reinstatement of the maximum pressure policy by the Trump administration, the production and export of oil by the Iranian government will experience a downward trend.
The remarks by the Iranian regime’s oil minister about record-breaking oil exports came after the signing of the “maximum pressure” order by Donald Trump on February 4.
Reuters reported that Trump has reimposed the maximum pressure policy against the Iranian government. This policy includes efforts to reduce the Iranian government’s oil exports to zero. Reuters quoted Trump as saying,
“With me, it’s very simple: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.” The U.S. also has the right to halt the sale of Iranian oil to other countries.
Since the signing of the order to reinstate the maximum pressure policy by Trump, the exchange rate of the dollar in the Iranian free market has increased by approximately 2%, and each U.S. dollar is now being traded at 860,000 rials.
The Iranian regime’s oil minister, referring to the sanctions, said: “We are always ready to offer solutions, and we will reach our goals.” He emphasized that if the sanctions continue, the strategies of the Iranian government will change. “We will not sit idly by.”
He added: “Maximum pressure is a failed theory.” He stressed that this policy will not succeed against the Iranian people. He said: “If they try maximum pressure again, they will fail once more.”
It seems that the statements and lies of the oil minister, following the implementation of maximum pressure, are more of a desperate attempt to reverse the situation facing the clerical regime.
