The ebb and flow of sanctions on Iranian oil
In 2015, Iran reached a historic deal with six world powers to trade curbs on its nuclear programme for sanctions relief, including on oil. But in 2018, the United States under Donald Trump’s presidency quit the deal, and sanctions snapped back.
Diplomatic efforts have gained some momentum to revive the deal in some form, raising the prospect of more Iranian barrels entering the market. But this outcome is by no means certain.
Below is a summary of the sequence of events that led to sanctions being lifted on Iranian oil the last time, and the re-imposition of sanctions only a few years later.