Axios: Washington Bets on Sanctions to Weaken Iran More Than Bombing - Sarmad

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump believes that economic sanctions may be more effective than military strikes in weakening the Iranian regime, even though the recent U.S. bombing campaign has garnered more attention than the financial pressures that Washington continues to impose on Tehran.

According to a report by Axios, senior U.S. administration officials believe that Iran’s economic crisis is accelerating rapidly, and that sanctions, combined with a naval blockade, represent pressure tools that could ultimately push Tehran to make concessions at the negotiating table.

A senior U.S. official told the website that the Iranian leadership “wants the bombing to stop, but it wants money more,” indicating that Tehran’s top priority is alleviating economic pressures, releasing frozen funds, and lifting U.S. sanctions.

The report notes that U.S. intelligence estimates, along with information available from open sources, point to signs of a deepening economic crisis in Iran, including fuel shortages despite the country possessing one of the world’s largest oil reserves.

A U.S. official added that financial pressures have begun to affect Iran’s ability to fund its allies, stating that intelligence agencies have detected complaints within Iran regarding the difficulty of paying fighters affiliated with the regime.

The official also expressed concerns about pressure on the banking sector and the possibility of banks facing large-scale withdrawal waves, amid ongoing gasoline shortages and declining liquidity, noting that Iranians have “become more afraid of the U.S. Department of the Treasury than the Department of Defense.”