How Trump's Iran Sanctions Squeezed Oil Markets and Forced European Firms Out

Trump's 2018 withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and re-imposed sanctions knocked roughly 2.5 million barrels daily off global supply. Brent crude jumped as traders priced in the loss. European energy, auto, and aviation firms took direct hits. The real power lay with secondary sanctions: U.S. restrictions on dollar-clearing access proved far stronger than EU blocking statutes, forcing European banks to abandon Iranian business.