President of Iran: Our trade volume has dropped by up to 35%; USA imposed sanctions on an Egyptian bank
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has acknowledged a sharp decline in trade due to US sanctions and a naval blockade. Meanwhile, the US continues its economic isolation campaign against Tehran.
Iran's trade has plummeted sharply under American sanctions and a naval blockade, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said.
"We have had a decline of between 25% and 35%. Our exports have fallen, but imports have fallen even more. The decline in exports is slightly less than the decline in imports, and imports have fallen significantly. And then there are people who say that sanctions have no effect at all! I really don't know what to say to these people. I just want to say this – to say that sanctions have no effect is not consistent with these facts," Pezeshkian said in an interview with state television.
Meanwhile, Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei called for increasing the country's economic independence. "It is essential to pay special attention to economic growth, increasing production, reducing the central role of the US dollar, and ultimately making the 'resistance economy' the main focus," Khamenei wrote in a post on the X network.
According to data published by trade intelligence firm Kpler, since the beginning of August, Tehran has loaded about 260,000 barrels of oil per day in its ports for export, compared to 1.7 million barrels per day in August last year – a drop of 80%.
US President Donald Trump reimposed the blockade on Iran on July 14, after it attacked oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent launched the "economic isolation operation" against Iran, aimed at severing all of Tehran's economic ties around the world.
As part of this, the US imposed sanctions on branches of the Egyptian Banque Misr in the UAE, preventing them from conducting transactions in dollars due to alleged financial ties with Iran. The bank stated that it is cooperating with the relevant authorities and added that the regulatory measure is limited to its branch in the UAE. The Central Bank of the UAE stated that following the US decision, it has decided to conduct a "special and urgent audit" of Banque Misr branches in the country.
