Iran Uses Shadow-Banking System to Sell 1.8M Barrels of Oil to China, Funds Military

Oct 24, 2024, 02:30 AM

An investigation by The Economist has revealed that Iran is using a complex shadow-banking system to sell its oil despite being under a global embargo. Last month, Iran sold 1.8 million barrels per day of crude oil, primarily to China. The revenue from these illicit oil sales, amounting to tens of billions of dollars, is channeled into bank accounts around the world. This money is used to finance Iran's nuclear program, military activities, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and the Oct. 7 massacre. According to the Iranian government's budget bill for next year, more than half of the state's total revenues from oil and gas exports will be allocated to the country's Armed Forces. Data from oil tanker tracking shows that the IRGC ships approximately 85,000 barrels of oil per day.