Iran’s economic turmoil is intensifying as Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad resigns amid allegations involving nearly $2 billion in unpaid oil revenues, while the rial plunges under mounting U.S. pressure.
Iran Oil Minister Resigns Amid Revenue Allegations
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said he accepted Paknejad’s resignation, which the minister attributed to personal reasons, The Guardian reported on Monday.
His departure follows a report by Farhikhtegan alleging that an intermediary trust used to recover proceeds from overseas Iranian oil sales owed nearly $2 billion to the state-owned National Iranian Oil Company.
The report also alleged that three individual trustees involved in oil contracts each owed NIOC hundreds of millions of dollars.
Iran’s parliament has launched an inquiry into the allegations, although some of the reporting may reflect an internal power struggle within the country’s oil industry.
Rial Collapse Adds to Iran’s Economic Crisis
The controversy comes as Iran confronts soaring inflation and a sharp decline in foreign-exchange earnings. The rial has fallen more than 10% over the past month and more than half over the past year.
According to Oanda, at the time of writing, $1 was worth about 1,741,320 Iranian rials.
Iran’s economy contracted 10% in the first three months of the year, while inflation has climbed to 85%. Iran’s central bank has reportedly pledged up to $2 billion to support the rial as sanctions and a U.S. naval blockade weigh on oil exports.
Senior Iranian officials have acknowledged the crisis’s severity. National security adviser Mohsen Rezaei reportedly warned during a government meeting Oct. 3 that the economy was facing one of its “most challenging periods.”
Pezeshkian separately acknowledged the “intensified” economic pressure, saying his government had adopted a “new arrangement” to manage the situation.
Bessent Says US Pressure Will Continue
Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the economic pressure campaign is producing results.
“Operation Economic Outcast is delivering results,” Bessent said in an X post, pointing to the rial’s record lows and the lack of crude loaded onto tankers last month.
He added that the campaign “will not stop” until Iran understands that the Donald Trump administration will not allow the regime to finance terrorism or develop a nuclear weapon.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Image via Shutterstock/ Maxim Elramsisy
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