2024-10-22
22 分钟The Economist Hello, Alice Fullwood here, co-host of Money Talks,
our weekly podcast on markets, the economy and business.
Welcome to Editors Picks.
You're about to hear an article from the latest edition of The Economist.
Thanks for listening.
In a war with Israel, Iran would need money.
Not just to buy weapons and keep its economy afloat.
but to rearm militias such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
Many assume that after years of sanctions it would struggle.
They are wrong.
Every year Iran funnels tens of billions of dollars from illicit oil sales to bank accounts all over the world.
This huge secret treasure was used to fund Hamas' attack on Israel a year ago,
swarms of Russian drones in Ukraine, and Iran's own nuclear program.
It has already seeded many crises and could soon fuel the mother of them all.
To understand how Iran can amass so much cash, zoom in on its petro-economy.
Six years ago, when the Trump administration reimposed a blockade,
Iran's exports of crude oil collapsed.
Since then, however, they have grown 12-fold to 1.8 million barrels a day in September.
Last year, these sales generated 35 to 50 billion dollars.
Petrochemical exports added another 15 billion to 20 billion dollars.