In a statement made early Monday morning, Iran’s sitting president Ebrahim Raisi stated that Iran’s oil exports have doubled since he took office in August 2021. The claim was made in a live interview aired on Iran’s state-run TV.

“Oil sales have doubled," President Raisi said. “We are not worried about oil sales.”

The Central Bank of Iran issued statistics at the start of February suggesting it made $18.6 billion in oil sales in the first half of this Persian year, as opposed to $8.5 billion the same period last year, according to the state-run IRAN newspaper. Much of that oil is believed to be heading to China. Venezuela also has received Iranian tankers at its ports.

Four years ago, then-President Donald Trump withdrew America from Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and imposed sweeping sanctions on Iran, including against its oil sector — the lifeline of its economy. Iran’s crude exports plummeted, and international oil companies scrapped deals with Tehran, weakening its economy.

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This news comes amid the ongoing conflict between Russian and Ukraine, which has caused oil prices to skyrocket in the past few months. Brent Crude oil hit nearly $140 per barrel in early March, a 14-year high at the time.

Russian Crude oil has been heavily sanctioned across the globe, allowing competitors like Iran to see large boosts in their own sales. Despite these sanctions, Russia has still seen consistently high profits from oil exports, thanks to soaring prices, new demand from India, and their lasting trade with China.

Countries like Iran and Russia seeing economic success despite heavy sanctions from the West can be seen as a troubling sight. Is this an indication of a lack of effectiveness within the economic sanctions, or an overall decline in the world power America once had?