Faced with mounting economic turmoil and plummeting oil exports under heavy U.S. sanctions, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian remained defiant in a recent interview, asserting that Tehran will endure any hardship rather than surrender to American pressure.
Conceding that Iran faces significant economic strain, including skyrocketing inflation and a sharp devaluation of the rial, Pezeshkian placed the blame squarely on Washington's policies.
While questioning the collapse timelines previously warned of, he emphasized that the nation will continue resisting U.S.-led economic measures, signaling no intent by leadership to back down despite the worsening fiscal crisis.
Watch this video.
Transcript:
PEZESHKIAN (via translator): “I keep saying, as I just said to you a moment ago — ”
BAIER: “But, Mr. President, the IRGC acted after you made this deal and it changed the dynamic.”
PEZESHKIAN (via translator): “This process — why is it that we’re no longer following this process and conducting further negotiation? The process that exists needed a time, a limited time frame, mind you, 60 days. If within those 60 days we would not have been able to reach an agreement, everyone could have said, well, we haven’t been able to reach an agreement. Why is it that within two weeks after the signing of an agreement, they chose to blow it up?”
BAIER: “Because the IRGC blew up some tankers. It changed the dynamic. Let’s move on. I just have a couple other questions. One, in March, you warned that without a cease-fire, the Iranian economy could collapse. That was back in March. ‘It could collapse within three weeks to a month.’ You warned, without a cease-fire, the economy could collapse within three weeks to a month. That was six months ago. Your own statistics agency says the Iranian economy shank 10%. Inflation is skyrocketing. The rial has lost more than half of its value in a year. Oil loadings fell from two million barrels a day to about 250,000 barrels. So, in that environment, how long can Iran last?”
PEZESHKIAN (via translator): “This is something that has been the doing of the United States. We will keep resisting. We will find ways and the life of our country will continue. We will remain. And Trump kept saying, ‘I want to bring gift to the people of Iran,’ but the gift they brought us were guided missiles, heavy weapons and destruction. What they truly wish to do is to instigate incidents in the country that paves the way for the downfall of the system of the society of the government.”
BAIER: “So were you wrong in March about the time frame, or is the economy collapsing now?”
PEZESHKIAN (via translator): “We will keep resisting until the very end. Yes, we do have economic issues, certainly. But in order to remain, we will go through any hardship and endure.”
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TIPP Staff
