Iran Loses Nuclear Leverage as World Ignores Export Drop

Iran’s new government enters nuclear negotiations today with limited economic leverage, seeking relief from oil sanctions that have squeezed as much as $5 billion a month from its revenues as the world has found other suppliers.

Since the U.S. and the European Union imposed sanctions on Iran’s oil sales in July 2012 as punishment for illicit nuclear work, higher production in the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Iraq has offset the loss of more than 1 million barrels a day in Iranian exports. As U.S. consumers pay $3.23 a gallon for gasoline, almost a dime less than when sanctions took effect, Iran’s economy will contract 1.5 percent this year after shrinking 1.9 percent in 2012, according to International Monetary Fund estimates.