The United States rolled out new Iran-related sanctions, the Treasury and State Departments announced on Monday, targeting companies and individuals including the head of Iran's national oil company.
In the reports, people highlight the increasing pressure on their livelihoods, complaining about the lack of response to their protests and the absence of effective measures to control prices.
One viewer, sharing a video, said that they had purchased only a few kilograms of potatoes, onions, and tomatoes, and the cost of these three items had reached 7,000,000 rials, approximately one-seventeenth of the average monthly Iranian salary.
The simultaneous surge in prices and worsening economic hardship, along with leaked reports of the Islamic Republic's financial aid to its supporters in Lebanon, has drawn significant attention from Iranian citizens.
One Iran International viewer, referring to the high food prices, said in a video: "The Iranian government gives money to the Lebanese, but does not care about its own people."
On Tuesday, Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, met in Tehran with leaders of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, who visited Tehran seeking financial assistance. Meanwhile, Hezbollah in Lebanon has been opening new branches of interest-free loan funds to distribute financial aid from the Islamic Republic.
Tehran has recently allocated more than $10,000 to each war-affected family in Lebanon to help cover rent and household expenses. This aid is distributed among Shiite Lebanese who are supporters of Hezbollah.
Naim Qassem, the newly appointed Secretary-General of Hezbollah, described the funds as a "gift from the Islamic Republic."
Inflation in Iran has reached an uncontrollable level, with the Iranian Statistics Center announcing that the country’s annual inflation rate for the 12 months leading up to February 2025 stands at 32%.
The Iranian currency, rial, has depreciated by more than 50% since September fueling annual inflation, which has hovered around 40% in the past five years.
Citizens hold the Islamic Republic and its policies responsible for their economic hardship and the rising cost of food and medicine.
Even Islamic Republic officials have acknowledged their inability to resolve the current crises.
President Masoud Pezeshkian referring to shortages in various sectors—including energy, which the government labels as imbalances—said:
"Do you think I have a magic box? No. Six months ago, I was walking in Parliament, and now I am the President."
Speaking at a meeting with officials in western Tehran on Thursday, Pezeshkian added:
"Everywhere we look, there is an imbalance—in water, electricity, gas, money, land, schools, and hospital beds. Demand is unlimited, and our capacity is limited."
Meanwhile, on Friday, Mohammad Jamalian, a member of Parliament’s Health Committee, said:
"Currently, 350 to 400 types of medicine are in short supply, and in the best-case scenario, such shortages will worsen within the next one to two months."
The measures target over 30 brokers, tanker operators and shipping firms the treasury department accuses of facilitating the trade from which Iran derives most of its state revenue, including for regional military operations Washington opposes.
They come after President Donald Trump this month reinstated the "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran from his first term, with the stated aim of driving its oil sales to zero.
“Iran continues to rely on a shadowy network of vessels, shippers, and brokers to facilitate its oil sales and fund its destabilizing activities,” Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in a statement on Monday.
“The United States will use all our available tools to target all aspects of Iran’s oil supply chain, and anyone who deals in Iranian oil exposes themselves to significant sanctions risk.”
Among those sanctioned is Hamid Bovard, Iran’s deputy oil minister and chief of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) as well as Abbass Asadrouz, who leads the NIOC subsidiary that oversees Iran’s oil terminals.
The Iranian Oil Terminals Company oversees Iran’s oil terminals including the Kharg Island Oil Terminal through which most Iranian oil flows and the South Pars Condensate Terminal making up all of Iran’s gas condensate exports, the treasury statement added.
Also in the crosshairs were oil brokers in Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates as well as tanker operators in China and India.
"We will continue to disrupt such illicit funding streams for Iran’s malign activities," the State Department said in a separate statement.
"As long as Iran devotes its energy revenues to financing attacks on our allies, supporting terrorism around the world, or pursuing other destabilizing actions, we will use all the tools at our disposal to hold the regime accountable."
Despite US-led sanctions, Iranian oil sales netted $53 billion in 2023 and $54 billion a year earlier, according to official US estimates, and output last year hit its highest since Trump imposed his original maximum pressure sanctions in 2018.
Still, Bloomberg reported last week citing data from energy consultancy Kpler that Iranian daily oil export flows to top customer China had strongly rebounded this month, Trump's first full month in office.
The unexpected rise comes after traders worked around logistical hurdles thrown up by previous US-led sanctions on the exports, the news agency reported.
China does not recognize US sanctions and private companies in the world's number one importer of oil account for almost all of Iran's sales.
Private ports in China are receiving oil from US-sanctioned tankers, Bloomberg reported this month, allowing major buyers of Iranian and Russian crude to avoid restrictions at larger ports.
"China and other countries have supported Iran in order for it to circumvent US sanctions for too long," US Senate foreign relations chairman Jim Risch said after the treasury's announcement.
"After years of President Biden’s refusal to act, I applaud President Trump’s return to maximum pressure," the Idaho Republican said on X.
