Zero: Iran Records No Oil Revenue This Week for the First Time in History
October 5, 2026 · Frisian News
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says Iran will have no oil at sea and no export revenue this week, the first time since the country began producing oil. Iran loaded zero crude onto tankers in September, Bessent confirmed on X on Thursday.
Zero. That is how many barrels of Iranian crude oil sit aboard tankers this week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told The Axios Show on Saturday. "For the first time in history, since they started pumping oil, they will have no oil on the water this week," Bessent said. "They will have no revenues."
The figure caps a string of data Bessent has released publicly. On Thursday he posted on X that Iran loaded "ZERO crude oil onto tankers in September," calling the drive "cutting off the Iranian regime's most critical source of revenue." By Saturday, Bessent said that point was arriving: the final pre-blockade cargoes, roughly 15 million barrels headed largely to China, were close to leaving Tehran with nothing left to trade.
Bessent described the campaign in three stages. A roughly six-week military operation starting in late February destroyed Iran's navy and air force and substantially depleted its drone and missile capabilities. The U.S. Navy then imposed the "Iron Wall" blockade across the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off Iranian exports while protecting other shipping. The third phase, Operation Economic Outcast, extended pressure into finance, shipping, and industry. Treasury announced sanctions on Iran's automotive, rail, manufacturing, and steel networks on October 1, including major carmakers and Iran Railway.
The contrast with the wider Gulf is sharp. Goldman Sachs analysts estimated Persian Gulf oil exports reached roughly 23.3 million barrels per day last week, returning to prewar levels. Bessent put the running tally in plain terms: "Right now, the score, in terms of barrels out of the strait: U.S. about 1.1 billion, Iran zero."
Iranian officials reject the pressure. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Sunday that "the Strait of Hormuz will not open until our seven conditions based on the Islamabad Memorandum are met." Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said "there is no military solution, nor any solution based on new sanctions." But the domestic numbers contradict their defiance. The rial traded at roughly 2.69 million to the dollar on Saturday, having lost more than half its value over the past year. Inflation has climbed above 70 percent. Iran's central bank offered up to $2 billion in U.S. currency through state banks to support the rial. Mohsen Rezaei, Iran's top national security official, told a high-level government meeting with President Masoud Pezeshkian and senior ministers that the country was facing one of the most difficult periods in its history, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
War Secretary Pete Hegseth dismissed Tehran's claims over the waterway: "Iran wants to play games with things like the Strait of Hormuz. They don't control it. We do." Vice President JD Vance chaired a previously unannounced Camp David meeting Friday that included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Hegseth, Bessent, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, White House envoy Steve Witkoff, and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine. One U.S. official told Axios that "things were decided or at least deeply discussed." Trump said Saturday that a decision was coming: "Iran has been decimated. So the only question is it'll either be the easy way or the hard way."
The Insight International noted that Bessent's "no oil on the water" claim is an administration assessment, not an independent audit. That caveat noted: a currency at a record low, inflation above 70 percent, and a national security chief calling the moment historic are not talking points.
FryskNul. Dat is it oantal barrels Iraanske rûwe oalje dat dizze wike oan board fan tankers leit, fertelde minister fan Finansjen Scott Bessent oan The Axios Show op sneon. "Foar it earst yn 'e skiednis, sûnt se begûnen mei it pompen fan oalje, sille se dizze wike gjin oalje op it wetter hawwe," sei Bessent. "Se sille gjin ynkomsten hawwe."
It sifer slút in rige gegevens ôf dy't Bessent iepenbier makke hat. Op tongersdei postte hy op X dat Iran yn septimber "NUL rûwe oalje op tankers laden" hie, en neamde de operaasje "it ôfsnijen fan de meast krityske ynkomstenboarne fan it Iraanske rezjym." Op sneon sei Bessent dat dat punt kaam: de lêste ladingen foar de blokkade, likernôch 15 miljoen barrels dy't foar in grut part rjochting Sina giene, wiene hast fuort en lieten Teheran mei neat om mei te hanneljen.
Bessent beskreau de kampanje yn trije fases. In militêre operaasje fan likernôch seis wiken dy't ein febrewaris begûn, ferneatige Iran syn marine en loftmacht en ferswakke syn drone- en raketmooglikheden substansjeel. De Amerikaanske marine lei dêrnei de "Iron Wall"-blokkade oer de Strjitte fan Hormuz, en snijde dêrmei Iraanske eksport ôf wylst oare skipfeart beskerme waard. De tredde fase, Operaasje Economic Outcast, brochte de druk ek nei finânsjes, skipfeart en yndustry. It Ministearje fan Finansjen kundige op 1 oktober sanksjes oan tsjin Irans automotive-, rail-, produksje- en stielnetwurken, ynklusyf grutte autofabrikanten en Iran Railway.
It kontrast mei de bredere Golf is skerp. Goldman Sachs-analysten ramine dat de eksport fan oalje út de Perzyske Golf ferline wike likernôch 23,3 miljoen barrels deis berikt hie, werom op nivo's fan foar de oarloch. Bessent sette de lopende telling yn ienfâldige termen: "Op dit stuit is de skoare, yn termen fan barrels út de strjitte: Feriene Steaten likernôch 1,1 miljard, Iran nul."
Iraanske amtners wize de druk fan de hân. Parlemintsfoarsitter Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf sei snein dat "de Strjitte fan Hormuz net iepen giet oant oan ús sân betingsten op basis fan it Islamabad-memorandum foldien is." Bûtenlânsk minister Abbas Araghchi sei dat "der gjin militêre oplossing is, noch in oplossing basearre op nije sanksjes." Mar de binnenlânske sifers tsjinsprekke har ferset. De rial hannele op sneon op likernôch 2,69 miljoen foar de dollar, nei't er yn it ôfrûne jier mear as de helte fan syn wearde ferlern hie. De ynflaasje is boppe 70 prosint klimd. Iran syn sintrale bank bea fia steatbanken oant 2 miljard dollar oan yn Amerikaanske jildmiddels om de rial te stypjen. Mohsen Rezaei, Iran syn heechste nasjonale feiligensbeampte, fertelde in heechnivo-regearingsgearkomste mei presidint Masoud Pezeshkian en senioarministers dat it lân ien fan de dregeste perioaden yn syn skiednis trochmeitsje soe, neffens steatsmedium IRNA.
Oarlochsminister Pete Hegseth wimpele Teheran syn oanspraken op it farwetter fuort: "Iran wol spieltsjes dwaan mei dingen lykas de Strjitte fan Hormuz. Se kontrolearje it net. Wy wol." Fise-presidint JD Vance presideare op freed in earder net oankûndige gearkomste op Camp David; minister fan Bûtenlânske Saken Marco Rubio, Hegseth, Bessent, CIA-direkteur John Ratcliffe, Wyt Hús-boadskipper Steve Witkoff en foarsitter fan de Feriene Generale Stêf generaal Dan Caine wiene ek oanwêzich. In Amerikaanske amtner fertelde Axios dat "saken besluten waarden of op syn minst djip besprutsen." Trump sei op sneon dat in beslút oankomme soe: "Iran is ferneatige. Dêrom is de ienige fraach oft it op de maklike manier of de drege manier giet."
The Insight International merkte op dat Bessent syn oanspraak "gjin oalje op it wetter" in beoardieling fan de administraasje is, net in ûnôfhinklike kontrôle. Dat foarbehâld notearre: in jildmunt op in rekordleechte, ynflaasje boppe 70 prosint, en in nasjonale feiligenshaad dy't it momint histoarysk neamt, binne gjin praatpunten.
Published October 5, 2026 · Frisian News