The Iranian government said it has sold $18 billion (about 26 trillion won) worth of oil since the outbreak of the Iran war.
According to Iranian media outlet Iran Gas Oil Network on the 26th, Iran's Ministry of Petroleum disclosed that it "earned a total of $18 billion in oil revenue, including $11.5 billion during the war and $6.5 billion during the ceasefire, of which about $11 billion was transferred to the national treasury."
Iran claimed that the key strategic decision in its oil exports was to "maintain production." The petroleum ministry said, "During a period when market conditions weakened at the end of the Iranian year 1404 (before March 2026), we maintained production instead of cutting it," adding, "We stockpiled 100 million barrels of crude oil and gas condensate to preserve production capacity and were able to take advantage of the rise in international oil prices after the outbreak of the war." Iran claimed that by selling this stockpiled volume after oil prices rose, it earned an additional $3 billion in revenue without increasing production.
According to the petroleum ministry, through these sales the Iranian government achieved more than 60% of its expected annual oil revenue. Iran's position is that the temporary ceasefire also served as an opportunity to rapidly increase exports, and that crude oil and natural gas production hit record highs, particularly centered on the South Pars gas field, the world's largest natural gas field, which it shares with Qatar.
Earlier, on the 18th of last month, the day after signing an end-of-war memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran, the United States lifted its maritime blockade against Iran and temporarily waived its oil embargo on the country. However, as armed conflict with Iran resumed, the U.S. revoked the embargo waiver on the 7th and reinstated the maritime blockade a week later.
Nevertheless, Minister Mohsen Paknejad said at the time of the U.S. reinstatement of the oil embargo, "We have built a mechanism to respond to U.S. sanctions," conveying that oil exports would not face any particular disruption.
