Due to the naval blockade and the campaign of economic sanctions ordered by President Donald Trump, Iran's oil exports have plummeted to almost zero, and a former Treasury official predicts that the economic impact could jeopardize the regime in the next two to three months.
The Islamic Republic was exporting oil en masse through the Strait of Hormuz to counteract its current economic problems, but now the activity in this industry is non-existent according to recent satellite images. Miad Maleki —who worked at the Treasury during the Trump and Joe Biden administrations— stated that this situation for the Tehran regime is unsustainable.
"The blockade has exposed Iran's greatest economic vulnerability," Maleki told the New York Post. "The Iranian oil clock is running out, and the real fiscal impact will be felt in the fall when all their payments come due," he added.
Trump's campaign is financially suffocating the regime
The regime used oil exports to pay its troops, government employees, security forces, and industrial workers, who are now being paid in cycles. And, if the economic stranglehold continues, the theocracy will have few options to protect its soldiers and the elite. Maleki indicates that when the terrorists from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the wealthy elite begin to complain, there will be no turning back.
Last week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that the Trump administration was going to escalate the so-called Economic Fury Operationby launching a new package of economic sanctions against Tehran, focusing on punishing the regime's sources of income. According to Bessent, the goal is to subject Iran to "an economic isolation like the world has never seen before."
For now, Iran still thinks it can outlast the United States in this economic standoff, as the conflict has also affected the U.S. economy and driven up gasoline prices.
Bessent predicted an economic collapse of the Islamic regime
