Iran’s economy contracted by 4.9 percent in the 2018-2019 year ended in March, slipping further into recession as diminishing oil exports due to the U.S. sanctions are depriving the Islamic Republic of its economic lifeline—oil revenues. The 4.9-percent contraction between March 2018 and March 2019, reported by the Statistical Center of Iran cited by VOA, could worsen even further as the U.S. removed all sanction waivers for Iranian oil buyers as of May 2. After the U.S. ended all sanction waivers for Iran’s oil customers on May 2, Iran’s crude oil exports dropped significantly in May this year compared to April and plunged by more than 2 million bpd off their 2.5-million-bpd peak in April 2018, just before the U.S. withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal and moved to re-impose sanctions on Iran’s oil industry. Iran is considering revising its financial and budgetary policies to remove oil income from […]