Gholamreza Tajgardoun, head of the Budget Consolidation Commission of the Iranian regime’s parliament (Majlis), announced that over eight months in the current year (from March to November), about eight billion dollars, equivalent to 38% of Iran’s oil sales revenue, did not return to the country.
Tajgardoun said on Wednesday, December 31, referring to the significant gap between oil sales and collected revenues, that Iran’s regime sold about 21 billion dollars’ worth of oil over eight months, but only 13 billion dollars of that amount was actually received.
He also addressed the decline in the regime’s oil revenues under current conditions and added: “The government’s share of oil revenues in the 2026 budget bill has decreased from 12 billion dollars to eight billion dollars, which is considered one of the serious challenges facing the budget.”
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In recent weeks, the rising exchange rates of foreign currencies have worsened economic conditions in Iran, and amid this situation, some officials of the Iranian regime have cited the failure to return export revenues as one of the causes of this crisis.
The intensification of livelihood hardships, the Iranian regime’s inability to contain the economic crisis, and officials’ insistence on continuing nuclear and missile programs have led to widespread anger and dissatisfaction among the Iranian people.
At the same time, citizens have held protest gatherings in various parts of the country, chanting slogans against the Iranian regime and calling for the overthrow of the government.
On December 27, Hossein Ali Haji Deligani, deputy head of the Article 90 Commission of the Iranian regime’s parliament, reported that a number of “trustee” companies involved in selling Iran’s oil had not returned the foreign currency earned from sales to the country, and that their debt has reached 6.7 billion dollars.
Trustee companies are entities trusted by the Iranian regime that act as intermediaries to find buyers for Iran’s sanctioned oil shipments. These companies, which are often registered in third countries, are responsible for selling the oil, receiving payments, and transferring foreign currency resources.
The issue of unreturned foreign currency is not limited solely to Iran’s oil sales.
Hossein Samasami, a member of the Majlis Economic Commission, said on December 13, citing non-oil export statistics, that over the past seven years, more than 116 billion dollars in export revenue has not returned to the country.
Reasons for the rejection of the budget bill
The head of the Budget Consolidation Commission went on to cite some of the reasons for the rejection of the 2026 budget bill as “the mismatch between government employees’ wage increases and the inflation rate,” “concerns over the rise of the poverty line,” and “a lack of transparency in revenues from oil sales.”
Tajgardoun said: “The commission’s conclusion and the view of the majority of representatives is that salary increases will certainly be higher than 20%. The pay raise will be implemented in an inverse stepped manner so that lower-income earners receive a higher percentage increase.”
He reported that lawmakers opposed a two percent increase in the value-added tax and added that the plan was rejected due to its “inflationary effects and additional pressure on the production and consumption chain,” and that even a one percent increase did not receive lawmakers’ approval.
Tajgardoun emphasized the need to reorganize tax exemptions and continued: “Some legal entities and large companies enjoy very high exemptions, parts of which can be adjusted, and the resulting resources can be used to support people’s livelihoods.”
