Reuters: Half of Iran's Oil Exports Controlled by the Revolutionary Guard

Reuters has reported that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has significantly increased its control over Iran's oil industry and now holds up to half of the oil exports, which are a major source of income for Tehran and fund its proxy forces in the Middle East. According to the report, which Reuters published on Wednesday, December 19, citing statements from over 'twelve' Western officials, security sources, and informed individuals within Iran, the IRGC secretly transports sanctioned oil primarily to China through front companies and a 'ghost fleet.' The report emphasizes that despite the stringent Western sanctions imposed in 2018 by the then U.S. administration under President Donald Trump, Iran has still managed to generate over $50 billion annually from oil exports. These revenues are considered the main source of foreign currency and the primary connector of the country to the global economy. Six 'specialized sources,' including Western officials and security experts, have told Reuters that the IRGC's dominance over Iran's oil exports has sharply increased from 20% to 50% compared to three years ago. Reuters has not disclosed the names of these sources due to the sensitivity of the issue. The surge in Iran's oil exports comes as Trump is poised to return to the White House. According to estimates from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Iran's oil revenues reached $53 billion in 2023, while in 2022, it was $54 billion, in 2021, $37 billion, and in 2020, $16 billion. Additionally, based on OPEC statistics, Iran's oil production has reached over 3.3 million barrels per day this year, the highest level since 2018. Two Western sources told Reuters that the IRGC offers an average discount of $5 to $8 per barrel to its customers. Reuters also reported that based on sources and intelligence documents it has obtained, oil is directly allocated by the government to the IRGC and the Quds Force, and it is then up to these two entities to market it, transport it, and create a mechanism for distributing the revenue. According to intelligence documents reviewed by Reuters, Qassem Soleimani, the former commander of the Quds Force who was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad in 2020, opened a secret base for the oil smuggling activities of this unit in the same year, which was managed by Rostam Qasemi, the former oil minister. The National Iranian Tanker Company, which previously played a key role in the country's oil exports, now assists the IRGC by transferring Iranian oil from one ship to another to conceal the origin of the oil being carried. Furthermore, the IRGC utilizes a fleet of tankers that the U.S. Treasury has referred to as the 'ghost fleet.' In October, the Treasury sanctioned 17 ships from this fleet and added another 18 tankers to the sanctions list in December. It is estimated that a significant portion of Iran's oil revenues is lost in the process of circumventing sanctions and rebranding oil. The government of Masoud Pezeshkian has projected in its budget bill for the year 1404 (2025) an export of 1.85 million barrels of oil per day, one-third of which is allocated to military forces (IRGC) for 'strengthening defensive capabilities,' while the rest is for the government, the National Oil Company, and the National Development Fund.