Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad has resigned, and President Masoud Pezeshkian accepted his resignation. Hamid Bovard, previously head of the state-owned National Iranian Oil Company, was appointed acting oil minister to oversee the ministry. No reason was given for Paknejad’s departure, which came as unprecedented U.S. sanctions targeted Iran’s oil sector. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Iran had no oil shipments remaining at sea and would generate zero oil revenue that week. Iran’s oil exports have already faced a severe squeeze: Fortune reported no terminal loadings in September, while Kpler estimated tanker-held crude fell from 90 million barrels in mid-July to about 29 million by early September and could be exhausted by mid-October. Oil provides about a third of Iran’s budget, and the rial has fallen to a record 2.7 million per dollar. The U.S. Treasury launched Operation Economic Outcast on Aug. 25 to isolate Iran from the global financial system. The resignation followed the Feb. 28 start of a U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, Tehran’s missile and drone attacks, the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz and a subsequent U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports. Efforts to end the conflict have continued under a June framework deal addressing navigation through the waterway and Iran’s nuclear program.