https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16081/white-house-iran-policy
Since President Trump was elected, and the US administration took a tougher stance towards the mullahs, Iran’s oil exports dropped to approximately 200,000 barrels per day — a number that represents a decline of more than 90%.
Now it is incumbent on other governments — specifically the European Union — to join the US in pursuing its (almost) “maximum pressure” policy against the ruling mullahs.
The policy may not be really “maximum” — everyone has carefully been tip-toeing around the words “regime change” — which, bluntly, would be a boon to (almost) everyone — but at least until then, sanctions are helping more than nothing, and definitely more than US pallets of cash.
Thanks to the re-imposition of sanctions against Tehran by the Trump administration, the Iranian regime seems to have suffered a significant loss of revenue.
The Trump administration’s (almost) “maximum pressure” policy against the Iranian regime is apparently forcing Tehran to rein in some of its forces in the region as well as cut funding to its allies.
According to the latest report, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has withdrawn some of its forces from Syria, and reduced its financial assistance to Syria’s regime.
The US special envoy for Syria policy and the fight against the Islamic State, James Jeffrey, recently pointed out:
“We have seen the Iranians pulling in some of their outlying activities and such in Syria because of, frankly, financial problems… the Trump administration’s sanctions policies against Iran [are] having a real effect in Syria.”
He added, “We do see some withdrawal of Iranian-commanded forces. Some of that is tactical because they are not fighting right now, but it also is a lack of money”.
Iran’s oil revenues and exports have been steadily declining since the US President Donald J. Trump pulled out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — also known as the Iran nuclear deal, and incidentally, never signed by Iran — and adopted a policy of (almost) “maximum pressure.”