Iran says oil intermediaries owe billions amid sanctions pressure
Iran says a network of oil intermediaries handling past oil sales owes the government between 10 billion euros and 11 billion euros, in a dispute that has drawn fresh attention to the country's sanctions-hit energy finances. The claim was set out by a spokesperson for the judiciary in September and is now being linked by officials and analysts to the strain on Tehran's oil revenue collection. The debt is described as equivalent to about half of the oil revenue projected in Iran's budget for the current fiscal year.
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The intermediaries are part of a system Iran developed in 2012 after American and European sanctions targeted its oil exports and revenue channels. According to the supplied material, Tehran could no longer rely on the Oil Ministry and Central Bank in the usual way, so it turned to domestic buyers and other arrangements to move crude and settle state obligations. That structure created what is often described in Iran as a trustee network, which has now become the focus of the unpaid-billions dispute.
The issue matters because oil remains central to Iran's public finances, and the reported debt comes at a time when Washington is maintaining pressure on the country's energy trade. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said Iran's shadow banking system is "buckling" under the campaign, presenting the financial strain as evidence that sanctions are working. The supplied material also says the pressure campaign has been intensified as Washington seeks to force Tehran to capitulate in the war between the two countries launched by the US and Israel in late February.
The debt claim also highlights the wider problem of how sanctioned states move and collect money when formal banking routes are restricted. Iran's oil-sales arrangements were designed to keep exports flowing despite sanctions, but they also created layers of intermediaries and delayed payments. In this case, the government says those intermediaries have not passed on funds from previous sales, leaving a large gap in expected revenue.
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The current dispute sits within a longer sanctions history that began in 2012, when the United States and European governments tightened restrictions on Iranian oil sales and revenue collection. The stated aim of those measures was to limit income that could support Iran's nuclear programme. Since then, Tehran has relied on workarounds that reduce transparency and make it harder to track who holds the money from oil transactions.
What remains unclear is how much of the reported debt can actually be recovered, which intermediaries are involved, and whether the government will pursue legal or administrative action. The supplied material does not say when the money will be repaid or whether any assets have been seized. The next developments to watch are any further official details from Iranian authorities and any response from the intermediaries or from US officials following the latest claims.
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