Iran’s leadership is increasingly acknowledging the economic damage caused by its six-month war with the United States, as the country faces soaring inflation, weaker trade and tighter American sanctions.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has urged the government to take urgent action to address mounting economic difficulties, including inflation, unemployment and rising prices of essential goods and services.
“There is the need to seriously address the chain of economic and livelihood challenges, such as inflation, unemployment, management of prices and the market for goods and services,” he said in a written statement.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian separately said the country’s imports and exports had fallen by nearly 35% as a result of US sanctions and a naval blockade targeting Iranian ports.
Despite the pressure, Pezeshkian said Iran managed to sell around 90 million barrels of oil during a short-lived memorandum of understanding with Washington in June, when the US temporarily allowed Iranian oil exports.
The economic pressure has intensified as President Donald Trump’s administration expands its campaign against Tehran, which Washington has described as an “economic D-Day”.
The United States has warned countries to reduce their business dealings with Iran or risk secondary sanctions. However, Washington has so far stopped short of penalising major Iranian trading partners such as China and India, a move that could also have wider consequences for the US and global economies.
The US Treasury Department recently imposed sanctions on Egypt’s Banque Misr over its dealings with Tehran, including a proposed measure restricting the bank’s branches in the United Arab Emirates from accessing dollar transactions.
Egypt’s central bank said it and the country’s foreign ministry were communicating with US officials, stressing that the measure applied only to Banque Misr UAE’s US dollar transactions with correspondent banks.
Washington also announced sanctions against an entity based in Hong Kong and an individual linked to Iran’s Bank Melli.
The latest measures come as Iran’s economy continues to struggle under the combined impact of war and sanctions, with annual inflation reaching 66% last month.
Strait Of Hormuz Remains At Centre Of Tensions
While Iran faces mounting economic difficulties, its leaders have continued to issue warnings over the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route through which a significant share of global energy supplies passes.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ navy has insisted that the strategic waterway remains closed to vessels without Iranian permission, contradicting US President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that the strait is open.
US military commanders, meanwhile, have said American forces have cleared sea mines allegedly placed in the waterway months ago by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Shipping activity remains sharply reduced. Preliminary data released on Friday showed only seven commodity vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, compared with 17 the previous day and a 10-day average of 15.
Diplomatic Efforts Continue
As Washington increases its financial pressure, diplomatic efforts to end the conflict are also continuing.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani travelled to Tehran on Thursday and met Iranian leaders, where he stressed the importance of restoring unrestricted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi later described the discussions as “creative”.
Qatar, a US ally and Iran’s Gulf neighbour, along with Pakistan, previously helped broker the June memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran. The agreement led to a brief ceasefire, but disagreements over the Strait of Hormuz later caused the arrangement to collapse.
With the conflict now entering its sixth month, Iran is facing the difficult combination of military pressure, economic hardship and diplomatic uncertainty, while the future of the strategically important waterway remains a key factor in efforts to resolve the crisis.
