Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has admitted that US sanctions on his country are hurting its economy, despite just days ago insisting they would achieve nothing.
“Some say sanctions have no effect at all; to those people, I really don’t know what to say,” Pezeshkian told state TV in an interview late on Friday.
“We are in a war situation, and we must accept these wartime conditions,” he added.
On Monday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent laid out plans for the “economic asphyxiation” of Iran, warning of dire consequences for countries that do not join the American campaign.
The new measures build on a sanctions regime by the US and allies that has been in place since 2018 when President Donald Trump withdrew from an international deal struck with Tehran on its nuclear program.
Pezeshkian said Friday that Iran’s exports and imports had fallen by 25 to 35% in recent months as the US maintains a naval blockade of Iranian ports.
The president said the price of petrol should be increased in Iran to account for the fall in trade.
“We should raise the price of the third-tier quota... For example, from 5,000 tomans to 10,000 tomans,” he added.
That quota refers to one of several consumption rates that determine the price an Iranian consumer is charged.
Iran, a major oil producer with some of the world’s cheapest fuel, has for years heavily subsidized petrol, making any changes to pricing politically sensitive.
Vice President Mohammad Jafar Ghaempanah said Wednesday that the US blockade had prevented his country from importing enough petrol to cover a shortfall in domestic production.
But Pezeshkian said that same day that the latest US sanctions “will not achieve anything.”
“We will stand firm against economic pressures, as we have done so far and will continue to do,” Pezeshkian told state media.
