Iran’s president stated sanctions and the US naval blockade had triggered exports and imports to stoop by practically 35 p.c.
Printed On 29 Aug 2026
Iran’s leaders have acknowledged the mounting financial injury of six months of war with the United States, with the president saying international commerce has shrunk by greater than a 3rd underneath US sanctions and a naval blockade.
The admissions got here on Saturday as Tehran signalled it will not again down, pledging to face up to US pressure, pursue diplomacy and preserve what it says is management over the Strait of Hormuz.
Beneficial Tales
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The federal government stated addressing the financial fallout was now a central focus, together with curbing inflation, creating jobs and steadily decreasing dependence on the greenback.
President Masoud Pezeshkian instructed state media that exports and imports had slumped practically 35 p.c due to sanctions and the blockade of Iranian ports.
He stated Iran had nonetheless managed to promote about 90 million barrels of oil in the course of the short-lived Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with Washington in June, when oil gross sales had been briefly permitted.
Supreme Chief Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen publicly because the US and Israel launched the struggle on February 28 with an assault that killed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, known as on the federal government to deal with the hardship.
“There’s the necessity to critically tackle the chain of financial and livelihood challenges, similar to inflation, unemployment, administration of costs and the marketplace for items and providers,” learn a written assertion attributed to Khamenei.
Annual inflation hit 66 p.c final month, and residents in Tehran instructed Al Jazeera the struggle had upended each day life.
“Earlier than the struggle, I didn’t work. Because the struggle, I’ve needed to discover a job to assist assist my family,” stated Maryam. “Every little thing has turn out to be so costly.”
Omid, who runs a meals enterprise, stated commerce had dried up as rents rose: “We will barely afford to pay our employees.”
Diplomacy and defence
In a press release on Saturday, the federal government described diplomacy and defence as “two complementary, coordinated and inseparable wings” for safeguarding nationwide pursuits and territorial integrity, saying it will pursue each in a balanced method.
Al Jazeera’s Sinem Koseoglu, reporting from Tehran, stated the federal government was selling a message of unity.
Pezeshkian has known as for dialogue and a much less confrontational relationship with neighbouring international locations, saying none of them dominated over the opposite, whereas the supreme chief has urged home unity and the preservation of social cohesion, she stated.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani met Iranian leaders in Tehran on Thursday, stressing the significance of returning to open delivery via the strait. Iran’s Overseas Minister Abbas Araghchi described the talks as “artistic”.
Iran’s navy, in the meantime, struck a defiant observe, with military commander-in-chief Amir Hatami telling the Fars information company that though the “enemy” had tried to destroy Iran’s drone and missile capabilities, its stockpile had been fired “with the utmost depth till the final second”.
On Friday, Performing Defence Minister Majid Ibn Reza stated Iran had “surprises” in retailer: “Everybody, and particularly the enemies, ought to know that they are going to turn out to be conscious of Iran’s surprises in due time,” in line with the Tasnim Information Company.
