By Kayhan Life Staff
Tens of billions of dollars in earnings from Iranian exports have yet to be paid into the country’s coffers, according to Islamic Republic officials.
Zabihullah Khodaeian, the head of Iran’s General Inspection Organization (GIO), said in a June 21 press conference that more than 94 billion euros ($107 billion) in foreign currency earnings, mainly from oil sales, still awaited repatriation.
Of that total, 53 billion euros were linked to three state-owned companies — the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), and the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) — though “a significant portion of these discrepancies have now been clarified,” he added.
Analysts say that more than a third of foreign currency revenues from Iranian oil sales fail to return to the country. They blame institutional corruption in the Islamic Republic of Iran, involving various branches of the legislative and executive bodies, oversight institutions, and the judiciary.
Other factors behind the non-return of revenues from oil and petrochemical exports are oil sanctions and the existence of informal or illegal networks — including those operated by the IRGC — to bypass them.
The failure to fulfill foreign exchange obligations and the non-return of export earnings to Iran’s economy are among the factors contributing to declining foreign currency revenues, rising inflation, increased exchange rates, shortages of funds for importing essential goods, and a weakening of the national currency, analysts explain.
Khodaiean cited the lack of a robust system for issuing “trade cards” as a key reason for the failure of return of foreign currency and for currency-related violations in foreign trade.
A trade card (also known as a business or commercial card) is an official license that allows individuals and legal entities to legally engage in the export and import of goods and customs clearance.
“In some cases, trade cards were issued to unqualified individuals and even people with no history of commercial activity, which created opportunities for misuse,” Khodaeian explained. “Criminal charges have been brought against those who were negligent or careless in the process of issuing trade cards, and these cases will be sent to judicial authorities.”
Khodaeian also announced the identification of “more than 2,000 issues and vulnerabilities that enable corruption in the country’s administrative structure, from which 14 main corruption choke points were extracted, and countermeasures were designed.”
“So far, in cooperation with executive bodies, more than 74 corruption-related bottlenecks and vulnerabilities have been blocked, and other cases are also being addressed,” he claimed.
The “bottleneck of corruption” is when bureaucracy and weak enforcement create delays that enable officials to demand or take bribes.
Ali Salehi, the Prosecutor General of Tehran, announced on May 26 that 583 judicial cases had been opened regarding foreign exchange obligations and the failure to return export proceeds to the country.
He said 62 arrest warrants had been issued in these cases, and 13 managers of petrochemical companies and affiliated firms had been summoned. Some of these managers have been formally charged, while others have pledged to fulfill their foreign currency obligations within specified deadlines.
Salehi added that 374 summonses had also been issued for suspects and handed over to enforcement officers for notification and follow-up.
Last December, Gholamreza Tajgardoon, chair of the Budget Consolidation Commission of the Majlis (Iranian Parliament), said that between April and November 2025, about $8 billion — equivalent to 38 percent of Iran’s oil revenue — had failed to return to the country.
Referring to the significant gap between oil sales and income received, he said the government had sold about $21 billion of oil over eight months but had received only $13 billion of those export earnings.
He also noted that, due to sanctions, government oil revenue in the 2026–27 budget bill had decreased from $12 billion to $8 billion, causing a major budgetary challenge.
The Tasnim News Agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), reported in September 2025 that according to official statistics, about $270 billion in non-oil exports (excluding government exports such as oil, electricity, and natural gas) have been carried out since 2018. Yet about $95 billion of that total — equivalent to 35 percent — has yet to be returned to the country.
The report emphasized that since 2022, out of $146 billion in non-oil exports, more than $56 billion — about 38 percent — has yet to be returned.
