Pezeshkian Urges End to US War as Iran Oil Exports Drop to 0
Updated
Updated · Financial Times · Aug 21
Pezeshkian Urges End to US War as Iran Oil Exports Drop to 0
3 articles · Updated · Financial Times · Aug 21
Summary
Friday remarks by Masoud Pezeshkian sharpened Tehran’s internal debate, with the president saying Iran should end the war with the US now while it still has “strength and dignity.”
Trump this week paired that pressure with a new “economic warfare” campaign, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said tougher sanctions would be unveiled Monday to try to force Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian officials are increasingly citing economic strain: central bank governor Abdolnaser Hemmati said oil exports have stopped, foreign-exchange reserves are frozen, and energy officials warned petrol imports face limits as reserves are drawn down.
The split exposes a wider struggle inside the regime after last month’s collapsed interim deal, with Revolutionary Guards-aligned hardliners resisting compromise while Pezeshkian and Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf argue military resilience alone cannot offset a weakening economy.