Iran's Revolutionary Guards have tightened control over the country's oil industry and now manage up to half of exports, funding its military capabilities and those of armed allies across the Middle East according to a Reuters report.
Western officials, security experts, and Iranian trading sources cited by the news agency said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) now control up to half of the country's oil exports, up from around just a fifth three years ago.
The Islamic Republic, despite harsh sanctions by the United States and its allies, generates more than $50 billion a year in oil revenue - a key lifeline for foreign currency.
Iran's entire oil industry has now fallen under the sway of the Revolutionary Guards, Reuters reported citing over a dozen interviewees, including the ships covertly transporting sanctioned crude to logistics and front companies facilitating oil sales.
China is Iran's top customer and China Haokun Energy, a front company operated by former Chinese military officials, remains an active conduit for the sales despite being slapped with US sanctions last year.
The sources, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic, shared insights derived from intelligence documents and tracking ships linked to the IRGC.
Last week, Iran International reported that the Revolutionary Guards are attempting to sell oil stored in China ahead of tougher sanctions expected under US President-elect Donald Trump, according to an informed source.
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Iranian authorities have instructed the IRGC to sell the sanctioned oil stored at Dalian Port in northeast China through intermediary firms.
The IRGC’s increasing dominance in the oil sector strengthens its overall influence across Iran's economy and complicates the effectiveness of Western sanctions, as the organization is already designated as a terrorist group by the United States and its allies.
According to Iran’s national budget, at least $12.6 billion from oil exports is allocated to the IRGC. This revenue enables the group to sell oil primarily to Chinese buyers and fund its military capabilities and allied militias in the Middle East.
Iran circumvents US and allied sanctions by rebranding its oil, often using tankers from a dark or shadow fleet operating in Malaysian and Singaporean waters.
These tankers relabel Iranian oil as originating from Iraq, the UAE, Oman, or Malaysia, after which it is delivered to China's smaller independent refineries, known as teapots.
While Shandong Port in China remains the primary hub for this rebranded oil, tanker-tracking data shows a notable increase in shipments to Dalian Port this year.
In response, the US Treasury Department recently blacklisted 45 tankers involved in transporting Iranian oil to Shandong. Despite these measures, over 100 large vessels in the dark fleet remain unsanctioned, according to data from Vortexa, continuing to transport Iranian oil to China, albeit at reduced volumes.
