Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said this week that the country’s foreign trade had contracted by 35 per cent, blaming American sanctions and a naval blockade imposed during the conflict with the United States.
The admission came as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged the government to address mounting economic hardship. The public acknowledgement from Tehran’s leadership marked a rare concession of the war’s domestic cost.
Washington has intensified sanctions targeting Iranian oil exports, banking channels and shipping. The measures have squeezed government revenue and disrupted the flow of imported goods, deepening pressure on an economy already strained by inflation and a weakened currency.
Even as officials conceded the economic damage, other Iranian leaders struck a defiant posture. Some threatened military retaliation against the United States, while commanders asserted that the Iranian navy retained control of the Strait of Hormuz.
The waterway carries a large share of the world’s seaborne crude. Tehran has repeatedly presented its ability to disrupt traffic through the strait as leverage against Western pressure, a threat that has kept global energy markets on edge.
The economic strain has reached ordinary households. Reports have described families in Tehran cutting back on food and medicine as sanctions tighten, with prices for basic goods climbing through the conflict.
The war has also rippled through global energy prices, raising fuel costs for consumers and industries far beyond the Middle East. Analysts have tracked repeated swings in oil markets tied to the pace of hostilities and diplomatic pauses.
Iranian officials have not published a detailed accounting of the trade figures or specified the period the 35 per cent decline covers. The government has framed the contraction as a direct result of what it calls economic warfare waged by Washington.
No date has been set for renewed talks between Tehran and Washington.