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More than $1 billion in oil revenues entered Iran during the first 11 days of the period ending Sept. 2, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported Thursday.
Citing documents reviewed by its reporter, Fars said oil-related foreign currency was added to the country’s foreign exchange reserves during the period.
The report said the additional funds would increase the central bank’s ability to meet Iran’s foreign currency needs.
It also said Iran’s oil sales during the first five months of the current fiscal year generated revenues equivalent to more than 80% of the oil income projected in Iran’s 2026-27 budget, which runs from March 21, 2026, to March 20, 2027.
The latest figures follow similar data released by Iran’s Oil Ministry in late August, which showed that $7.5 billion in foreign currency generated from oil sales during the first four months of the fiscal year, from March 21 to July 22, had been transferred to the Central Bank.
The figures came as Washington intensified economic pressure on Tehran.
The United States recently launched “Operation Economic Outcast,” a campaign aimed at cutting Iran off from global financial channels and restricting its ability to generate and repatriate revenues, including from oil sales.
As part of the campaign, Washington imposed new sanctions targeting dozens of entities, individuals and vessels and broadened secondary sanctions risks for parties continuing to do business with Tehran.
Iran also claimed Thursday that it had laid additional naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz, while dismissing U.S. claims of control over the strategic passage.
“During last night's operation, more naval mines were laid along the illicit routes south of the Strait of Hormuz,” Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesman for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, wrote on X.
Zolfaghari mocked Trump’s suggestion to rename the waterway “Trump Strait,” claiming the only action that the U.S. military’s Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees military operations in the Middle East, could manage in response was to “rename the Strait using Photoshop.”
He joked that Washington could likewise “use Photoshop to get the oil tankers through” the passage.
The remarks came amid a sharp dispute between Washington and Tehran.
CENTCOM previously declared that all sea mines had been cleared from transit routes and rejected reports of tankers hitting mines as disinformation.
Trump recently said all mines had been removed from the strait and warned of a “zero tolerance policy” on new mine placements.
Tehran maintains deliberate opacity regarding the minefields, asserting that only Iranian forces know their exact locations.
The number of mines newly deployed during the overnight operation remains unknown.
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