Reuters: Revolutionary Guards control up to half of Iran's oil exports

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps now controls up to 50% of the country's oil exports, up from about 20% three years ago, according to six Western officials, security experts and Iranian and trading sources cited by Reuters. The sources say the Guards run tankers that move crude covertly, arrange ship-to-ship transfers and use front companies, including the China-based Haokun, which the US sanctioned in 2022, to sell mainly to Chinese independent refiners. Reuters notes that Iran's oil output has topped 3.3 million barrels a day this year, the highest since 2018 according to OPEC figures, despite Western sanctions.

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