A woman walks past a currency exchange shop in the grand bazaar in Tehran, the capital of Iran, on Nov. 3, 2018. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that President Donald Trump has "disgraced" U.S. prestige and would be the ultimate loser for renewing sanctions on the Islamic republic. Trump announced in May that he was withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal and reimposing sanctions, sparking outrage among world powers who say Iran has been complying with commitments to restrict its atomic program.
The United States has now reimplemented some of the sanctions against Iran that were once lifted under the nuclear deal. As details trickle out about which countries have received sanctions waivers and how long the waivers will last, the effects of U.S. pressure on Iran are taking shape. Currently, the available information provides a few key takeaways. First, it appears that Iran's oil customers are abiding by U.S. sanctions. Iran's overall export market could shrink from nearly 2 million barrels per day (bpd) of condensate and crude oil exports to just 1 million bpd. In addition, the waivers only extend for 180 days, after which the United States — which is internally divided over how aggressively to issue waivers — may push countries to further cut imports of Iranian oil.
