Iran Admits Economy Bleeding: Trade Plunges 35% in US Standoff

Iranian leaders have publicly acknowledged the heavy economic cost of their confrontation with the United States. The country’s supreme leader has urged the government to ease public hardship, while the president revealed that foreign trade has collapsed by 35 percent due to American sanctions and a naval blockade. These admissions came as other senior officials continued to threaten military action against Washington. They also insisted that Iran’s navy still controls the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil shipping route. That control gives Tehran strategic leverage by allowing it to disrupt global energy supplies, even as its own economy suffers.