White House on Surging Iranian Oil Money: It’s More Difficult for Iran to Make Money Because They Have Lower Margins

During an interview with the Fox News Channel aired on Friday’s broadcast of “The Story,” White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby acknowledged that Iran is making money off of oil, but argued that most of it is on the black market, “And as you trade oil on the black market, your margins actually go down.” And making money off oil is “becoming increasingly difficult for them.”

Host Martha MacCallum said, “[Y]ou acknowledge that they’re making more money on oil sales to China than they have ever made, billions of dollars in sales to China, the largest — it’s increased dramatically since 2018.”

Kirby responded, “[A]s for the oil revenues, we are enforcing sanctions and we’ll continue to. We’ll obviously review the sanctions regime. And if we have to change it and add to it, we’ll do that, too. Most of the money that they’re getting off of oil is through the black market. They’re trying to evade the sanctions enforcement in place. And as you trade oil on the black market, your margins actually go down. I’m not disputing the numbers that they’re — not saying they’re not getting money off of oil. But it’s becoming increasingly difficult for them.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett