April 19, 2019
The State Department issued a graphic April 4 boasting about how successful the Trump Administration policy of “maximum” pressure on Iran has been. It said Iranian oil exports had been cut by $1.5 million barrels a day, a slight exaggeration. It also said it had sanctioned 970 Iranian entities and individuals, without mentioning that most of them had been sanctioned earlier by previous administrations. It also boasted that 20 countries that once imported Iranian oil were no longer importing any Iranian oil at all. That is true. But all 20 stopped importing Iranian oil under President Obama, which is not exactly a sign of success for President Trump’s policy.