One year after US President Donald Trump returned to the White House and revived the "maximum pressure" sanctions on Iran from his first term, available data show the country’s energy exports remain largely intact.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday Washington is tracking what he described as a surge of capital flight by Iran’s ruling elite, as fears grow over the possible collapse of the Islamic Republic amid unrest and threats of a US strike.
A 25 percent tariff on US imports from any country that trades with Iran appears aimed at punishing third countries, but it is likely to hit Tehran far harder.
European governments are using disputes over Iran’s alleged role in Ukraine and the nuclear dossier to justify tougher measures against Iran, Russia’s ambassador to Tehran told state media.
The US Treasury on Tuesday imposed new sanctions on individuals and firms in Iran and Venezuela, accusing them of facilitating weapons transfers, including Iranian-made combat drones for Venezuela and procurement networks tied to Iran’s missile program.
Iran’s handwoven carpet industry has fallen to its lowest level on record, hit by US sanctions, restrictive foreign-currency rules and regional instability that have driven exports close to collapse, the Financial Times reported on Friday.
Comments by Iran’s foreign minister describing international sanctions as having blessings have sparked a wave of criticism from economists and social media users, many accusing senior officials of being detached from the economic hardship faced by ordinary citizens.
A leading economic newspaper in Tehran warned that poverty and inequality in Iran are deepening under intensified international sanctions, saying nearly one-third of the country’s wealth is now concentrated in the hands of just one percent of the population.
The US Treasury on Thursday announced new sanctions targeting 29 vessels and multiple shipping firms accused of helping Iran evade oil sanctions, intensifying pressure on what Washington describes as Tehran’s shadow fleet.
Iran has built a covert network to keep its aviation sector operating despite sweeping international sanctions, using front companies, smuggling routes and deceptive flight practices, according to a joint report by the Institute for National Security Studies and ColEven.
A former Iranian lawmaker, citing the fate of Iran’s claims after the fall of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, urged Tehran to move quickly to recover what he said were more than $2 billion of assets in Venezuela, as Washington escalated pressure on Caracas.
US treasury fined crypto wallet firm Exodus Movement $3.1 million for violating Iran-related sanctions, saying it provided customer support to users in Iran and, in some cases, advised them to use VPNs to bypass restrictions on access to digital asset exchanges.
US President Donald Trump’s new National Security Strategy (NSS) signals a more hands-off approach toward Iran and marks a departure from the outlook of his first term, according to veteran Iran-watcher and analyst Behnam Ben Taleblu.
The seizure by US forces last week of an oil tanker in the Caribbean for allegedly transporting sanctioned oil from Iran and Venezuela may signal a policy shift that could endanger the funding of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
A senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader said Iran is pushing a strategy to link security with economic development in its southeast, arguing that closer trade with neighboring countries will blunt the impact of US sanctions.
As diplomatic horizons narrow and domestic hardships mount, Iran appears to endure less through strategic vision than an ad hoc survival economy backed up by China, Russia and its armed allies abroad.
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Wednesday that US forces had seized a tanker for shipping oil from Venezuela and Iran, publishing footage of troops rappelling onto the vessel by helicopter.
Drone attacks on US-run oilfields in Iraqi Kurdistan – blamed by local authorities on Iran-aligned militia – prompted a US pressure campaign that helped restart the Kirkuk–Ceyhan export pipeline, a move Washington views as curbing funding for Iran-backed groups, Reuters reported.
Iran’s government said inflation stems from unfunded promises financed by unbacked money printing and bank credit, adding it has capped budget growth at about 2% and halted most other outlays in a bid to curb price pressures.
The US State Department said Rewards for Justice is offering up to 10 million dollars for information that helps identify or locate two Iran linked cyber actors tied to operations against US critical infrastructure.
China’s independent refiners are stepping up purchases of Iranian crude held in bonded storage and on tankers idling offshore after Beijing issued a fresh round of import quotas late last month, Bloomberg reported.
Every transaction linked to Iran — no matter how small — must now be treated as high-risk under newly tightened regulations introduced by Canada last week, a move experts warn could fall hardest on ordinary Iranians.