DUBAI, Sept 3 (Reuters) – A U.S. campaign to throttle Iran’s economy by blockading its oil exports and stopping sanctions evasion is growing increasingly difficult to withstand, three senior Iranian sources said.
Washington has in recent weeks sought to ratchet up the economic pressure on Tehran, in an effort to extract concessions in any future negotiation that six months of conflict have so far failed to secure.
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Although Iran’s clerical rulers managed to bypass sanctions for decades, the latest U.S. moves have left them in a far more sensitive position, with few remaining channels to secure foreign currency or buy goods, the sources said.
In particular, the effort to stop Iran accessing international financing networks in other countries it has long used to keep its economy functioning poses a real and urgent threat, the sources said.
Any sign the economic campaign may break a months-long deadlock in the conflict will likely cheer U.S. planners, though Iran has also warned it could respond to the pressure with military escalation, raising the stakes at a key moment.
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The war has erupted back into open fighting this week, with U.S. attacks along Iran’s Gulf coast prompting retaliatory Iranian strikes at U.S. bases in Arab states.
Neither side has signalled yet it is ready to make the concessions demanded by the other, leaving the war in a costly stalemate – though one that may be shifting.
While more energy is flowing to international markets through the Strait of Hormuz despite Iranian efforts to continue disrupting the seaway, the U.S. blockade of Iranian oil exports has entirely cut off Tehran’s main source of revenue.
Adding to Iran’s problems, the economy was already deep in crisis before the conflict, with a cratering currency and spiralling inflation, while months of bombing have run up a massive bill to rebuild damaged industry and infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the country’s financial squeeze is itself biting into Tehran’s efforts to get around the sanctions regime, leaving less cash to pay the high premiums required to skirt sanctions illicitly, the sources said.
