{"id":420254,"date":"2021-04-14T05:28:22","date_gmt":"2021-04-14T09:28:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=420254"},"modified":"2021-04-14T05:28:28","modified_gmt":"2021-04-14T09:28:28","slug":"us-sanctions-pushed-iran-to-brink-of-bankruptcy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/us-sanctions-pushed-iran-to-brink-of-bankruptcy\/","title":{"rendered":"US Sanctions Pushed Iran to Brink of Bankruptcy"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fus-sanctions-pushed-iran-to-brink-of-bankruptcy%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=420254&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div readability=\"31.436018957346\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"article-category\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"article-excerpt\">Regime lost billions amid maximum pressure campaign, IMF report reveals<\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-thumbnail-container relative lg:mr-24 w-full my-4 mb-8\">\n\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"736\" height=\"514\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-1800.jpeg\" class=\"w-full lazyload blur-up wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 736px) 100vw, 736px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-1799.jpeg 736w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/GettyImages-1215439564_736x514-300x210.jpg 300w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/GettyImages-1215439564_736x514-703x491.jpg 703w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" \/><figcaption class=\"absolute text-white p-4 w-full text-right text-xs bottom-0 bg-black opacity-75\">\n\t\t\t\tIranian president Hassan Rouhani \/ Getty Images\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"text-gray text-xs md:text-lg\"><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/author\/adam-kredo\/\" title=\"Posts by Adam Kredo\" rel=\"author\" class=\"text-red-700\">Adam Kredo<\/a> \u2022 April 14, 2021 5:00 am<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<div readability=\"117.09474491753\">\n<p>Iran burned through nearly all of its cash reserves in the final years of the Trump administration as harsh economic sanctions crippled the country\u2019s economy and brought the hardline regime to the brink of financial collapse, according to findings published by the International Monetary Fund.<\/p>\n<p>The Islamic Republic had $122.5 billion on hand in 2018 and just $4 billion by 2020, when the former administration\u2019s &#8220;maximum pressure&#8221; campaign on Tehran was at its height, <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/statsapp.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according<\/a> to the IMF\u2019s 2021 Middle East and Central Asia report, which tracks the region\u2019s economies. Iran burned through $118.5 billion in two years, nearly depleting its cash reserves. The country\u2019s coffers are forecast to grow by several billions in the coming years as the Biden administration moves to unwind sanctions as part of an effort to reenter the 2015 nuclear deal.<\/p>\n<p>The IMF\u2019s findings are the clearest evidence to date that the years-long U.S. sanctions campaign was successful in emptying the regime\u2019s pocketbook at a time when Iran was spending great sums on its foreign terrorism enterprise and nuclear enrichment program. Sanctions gutted Iran\u2019s oil trade, a key source of revenue for the regime, and forced it to tap heavily into reserve funds. While liberal critics of this approach claim that sanctions only hurt the Iranian people, the IMF\u2019s findings show the hardline regime was under more economic stress than previously known. It is also likely that Iran would not have been able to weather another four years of the Trump administration\u2019s sanctions. Former secretary of state Mike Pompeo <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mikepompeo\/status\/1381662482859720706?s=21\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> 96 percent of Iran&#8217;s foreign exchange reserves were &#8220;wiped out&#8221; as a &#8220;direct result of our maximum pressure campaign.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Any sanctions relief granted by the Biden administration in its new diplomatic talks with Iran will provide the regime with a much-needed lifeline for survival. The country\u2019s dire economic situation has generated several waves of democratic protests that threaten to depose the ruling clerical mullahs. Iran\u2019s interest in restarting discussions with the United States early in the Biden administration\u2019s first term signals the regime is desperate for sanctions relief and recognizes that its grip on power is under threat.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1465143 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-28.png\" alt width=\"1400\" height=\"606\" srcset=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Screen-Shot-2021-04-13-at-2.43.51-PM.png 1400w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Screen-Shot-2021-04-13-at-2.43.51-PM-300x130.png 300w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Screen-Shot-2021-04-13-at-2.43.51-PM-768x332.png 768w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Screen-Shot-2021-04-13-at-2.43.51-PM-1024x443.png 1024w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Screen-Shot-2021-04-13-at-2.43.51-PM-736x319.png 736w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The IMF projects that Iran\u2019s reserves will grow to $12.2 billion in 2021 and $21 billion by 2022. That number could be higher if the Biden administration unwinds sanctions and clears the way for international businesses to reinvest in the Iranian economy. The Obama administration adopted a similar approach in 2015, when it first negotiated the deal and removed many of the toughest sanctions in place.<\/p>\n<p>Still, economic forecasts for Iran look dire.<\/p>\n<p>U.S. sanctions on Iran\u2019s illicit oil trade are likely to continue, according to the IMF report. This has forced Iran to peddle its oil at a heavy discount and under the radar. Iran is still producing several million barrels of oil a day, though much of that is being surreptitiously sent to war-torn Syria, where Iranian forces continue to back embattled strongman Bashar al-Assad. These shipments, however, have come under increasing strain. Israeli forces have begun to target Iranian ships ferrying oil to Syria, including at least a dozen ships since late 2019.<\/p>\n<p>Inflation also continues to soar in Iran, according to the IMF report, another sign that sanctions are biting into the country\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;For the last several years proponents of a renewed deal with Iran have been arguing that max pressure wasn\u2019t working. These numbers tell a different story,&#8221; said Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank and former terrorist finance analyst at the Treasury Department. &#8220;If these numbers still represent the current reality, the United States has far more leverage over the regime than previously believed. The administration should use that leverage at the negotiating table.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Abdolnaser Hemmati, the chair of Iran&#8217;s Central Bank, which also has been subjected to U.S. sanctions, <a href=\"https:\/\/iranintl.com\/en\/iran-in-brief\/central-bank-chief-slams-imf-saying-irans-reserves-have-dwindled\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">called<\/a> the IMF&#8217;s findings &#8220;egregious&#8221; on Tuesday. Hemmati said the IMF did not consult with Iran on its report and claimed it contained &#8220;incomplete information,&#8221; though he did not provide proof to support this claim.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Iran announced on Tuesday that it has begun enriching uranium to the 60-percent level, the highest ever performed by the country and a level that is dangerously close to weapons-grade fuel. The announcement comes after a cyber-attack on the country\u2019s Natanz nuclear facility, which is believed to have been carried out by Israel.<\/p>\n<p>Iran leaders also said this week that nuclear enrichment work will not cease until the United States lifts all of its sanctions as a precondition. This includes all sanctions that were applied by the Trump administration, according to Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif.<\/p>\n<p>Iranian officials are additionally calling on South Korea to release around $7 billion tied up in the country as a result of sanctions. Iran seized a South Korean tanker and its crew earlier this year and used them as ransom to force a payment of $1 billion, which the Biden administration <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/national-security\/lawmakers-investigate-state-department-over-1-billion-ransom-payment-to-iran\/\">reportedly signed-off<\/a> on.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Regime lost billions amid maximum pressure campaign, IMF report reveals  Iranian president Hassan Rouhani \/ Getty Images  Adam Kredo \u2022 April 14, 2021 &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2312148,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-1800.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"US Sanctions Pushed Iran to Brink of Bankruptcy","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-420254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-1800.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"US Sanctions Pushed Iran to Brink of Bankruptcy","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2312148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}