Trump’s Tightening Squeeze on Iran Will Heap More Pain on Its Battered Economy

Washington moves to deprive Tehran of much needed revenue, raising pressure on a suffering population

DUBAI—President Trump is betting that reimposing the blockade on Iran and revoking its right to sell oil will throttle the regime’s economy and convince it to release its hold on the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran is betting it can hold out.

The danger is, in the short term at least, that the renewed economic pressure hurts ordinary Iranians and leaves a destructive stalemate in the waterway.

U.S. Central Command announced strikes on Iranian targets for a sixth straight day on Thursday. The collapse of the June deal to end the fighting has reversed economic relief for Iran, putting the squeeze on households already buying groceries on credit. Oil revenues are likely to dwindle, businesses will again delay investment and households will cut spending even further.

Iran’s leaders have historically proved willing to impose enormous costs on the population rather than accept demands they see as threatening the regime’s survival.

“Iran is prepared to pay a very, very high cost, including the continued blockade by the American side, in order to retain and sustain this control over the Strait of Hormuz going forward,” said Ellie Geranmayeh, an Iran expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations. “In the Iranian mentality, it’s just about surviving another day, and then another day.”

An Iranian diplomat said there is a deepening fracture in the regime between pragmatists who worry the return of the blockade will worsen the ailing economy and hard-liners who want to aggressively assert control of the strait as a powerful point of leverage over the U.S.

But the pressure will mount. Some analysts estimate a...

It'd suck even more for us if we let them get a nuke.

We have been told Iran is on the brink of having a nuke for the past three or four decades.

https://x.com/i/grok/share/6a864560da814a3481e0d2267e07f84d

Netanyahu himself said it in 1992.

https://x.com/i/grok/share/1e38aa08af164d5286526314a801c0ea

Its unfortunate that Iran is suffering because of China and Russia. Iran is not in control of their own fate. The bombs that rain down on Iran from the US are in response for missiles that are made or sponsored in Russia or China. And the people who fire those missiles and drones are prodded on and sponsored by foreigners.

America should blow up the roads and rails to the Northern and Eastern borders, and ports in the Caspian Sea which import these weapons. They should disable the internet and other communications systems that allow them to be targeted and deployed.

The people of Iran are paying a huge price for this war. But they have little control over it. America needs to stop those who do have control of the weapons. They are not the same as those who have control of the government.

“on the brink” was on the order of over a decade previously. It’s only recently that it’s been tightened up.

What do you think their timeline was?

Or do you think our B-2 bombed a chocolate factory?

Trump’s Zelenskyy’s Tightening Squeeze on Iran Russia Will Heap More Pain on Its Battered Economy

If that's true and you were Russia, would you surrender or launch nukes rather than be defeated?

Be honest. I know it's hard.

“Tightened up.”

That’s damned scientific. I’m impressed.

Is he Archie Bell?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wro3bqi4Eb8

...the renewed economic pressure hurts ordinary Iranians... ...
Iran’s leaders have...proved willing to impose enormous costs on the population rather than accept demands they see as threatening the regime’s survival.

In lieu of putting boots in the ground, it would seem cost-effective to make every attempt to connect the dots for the "ordinary" Iranians.

That might include high-flyers that drop leaflets describing precisely how its leadership is acting, at the individual's cost, not only against its citizens but towards other Islamic nations and at the global level.

“pragmatists who worry the return of the blockade will worsen the ailing economy and hard-liners who want to aggressively assert control of the strait as a powerful point of leverage over the U.S.”

The above statement would be a summary of positions held by marginally rational people, but the controlling factions contain few such individuals. I said before that negotiators should be required to spend a month in prison interacting with the criminally insane. Iranian leaders are not only ideologues but also meet the definition of sociopaths by exhibiting patterns of antisocial behaviors and attitudes, including manipulation, deceit, aggression and a lack of empathy for others. With these creatures you cannot assume the same reaction to events we would have. You can begin negotiations only after you remove their ability to project terrorism beyond their physical borders.

The “Iranians will rise up” trope reminds me of a a Domestic Disturbance Call.
Two parties are fighting, often a married man and woman. A cop shows up to break up the fight, and stop the oppressor.
The two parties who were at odds unite and begin beating up the Cop.

Archie formed the group in 1966 with his friends James Wise, Willie Parnell and Billy Butler.

The origins of “Tighten Up” came from a conversation Archie Bell had with Butler. Bell was despondent after receiving his draft notice, and Butler, in an attempt to cheer him up, demonstrated the “Tighten Up” dance to Bell.

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