Iran's oil revenues fell to $18 billion in 2015 due to sanctions on the country and low oil prices, first vice president of Iran, Eshaq Jahangiri, said yesterday. Speaking at a conference in Tehran for National Exports Day and citing Iranian state television, Jahangiri said Iran's oil revenue was $118 billion before the sanctions were imposed on the country. "Despite this, the Iranian economy contracted only 6.8 percent in 2012," he said.

In 2013, the Iranian economy contracted once again, by 1.9 percent, before recording a growth rate of 1.5 percent in 2014, according to the World Bank. However, these levels were far removed from the more than 7 percent growth rate Iran saw during 2002 and 2003.

Jahangiri blamed low oil prices and sanctions on Iran as reasons for his country's falling oil revenues. "Plummeting oil prices have taken a heavy toll on the Iranian economy, with oil revenue making up 90 percent of the total income ... Tough times are ahead. However, the government has been working for stability," he was quoted as saying by the Iranian Republic News Agency (IRNA). "Our forecast is that sanctions will be lifted in December. We are preparing to increase our oil production by 500,000 barrels per day on average," he added.

Currently, Iran produces 2.8 million barrels of crude oil per day, according to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) latest Monthly Oil Market Report published in October. This amount was more than 3.6 million barrels per day on average before sanctions were imposed on Iran.