Iran's Deputy Economy Minister Says US Economic Campaign Has Failed

Iran's Deputy Economy Minister Mortaza Zamanian stated that Iran's extensive borders, established commercial routes, and longstanding trading relationships make it impossible for external pressure to simply switch off the country's economy. His remarks came as Washington intensified what it describes as economic measures targeting Iranian oil, shipping, aviation, finance, technology, and foreign companies supporting those sectors. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that Iran would probably make its final oil deliveries to China within two weeks, after which, he asserted, "they will have nothing."

That prediction invites comparison with history, as American administrations have imposed increasingly severe sanctions since 1979 while repeatedly expecting economic pressure to eventually produce decisive Iranian economic collapse. However, the economy did not disappear under those campaigns; instead, Iran developed domestic industries, expanded regional commerce, strengthened Asian trade, and accumulated extensive experience operating outside Western financial systems. The proposition that an economy which has absorbed American sanctions for almost half a century will suddenly become economically empty within two weeks therefore indicates the depth of delusion among the current US leadership, according to the report.

Iran enters the current confrontation with a large domestic market, substantial productive capacity, enormous energy resources, and deeply established commercial relationships extending across neighboring countries and wider Eurasian markets. The World Bank describes Iran as relatively diversified for an oil-exporting economy, with substantial manufacturing, agricultural, and service activity supported by a large population and significant domestic consumption. That domestic market sustains production across food, pharmaceuticals, construction materials, steel, petrochemicals, machinery, and consumer goods, meaning Iranian production does not depend entirely upon continuous access to Western consumers.

Iran has also developed major industrial capabilities suited to its own resources and infrastructure, including steel, refining, petrochemicals, cement, power generation, construction, food processing, and pharmaceutical manufacturing. These capabilities have continued developing despite restrictions on Western investment and technology, demonstrating that Iranian industrial activity does not depend upon permanent participation by Western companies, according to Press TV. Iran's prolonged exposure to sanctions has produced accumulated technical and commercial knowledge, giving Iranian companies decades of experience managing restricted supply chains and unreliable access to foreign suppliers. When foreign manufacturers withdraw, Iranian companies have learned to redesign equipment, substitute components, develop domestic suppliers, and cooperate with businesses from countries willing to maintain commercial relationships. Academic research has documented this process, showing that sanctions can simultaneously restrict foreign technology while encouraging domestic technological development and adaptation within affected Iranian industrial sectors. The resulting knowledge extends beyond individual companies, because engineers, technicians, procurement specialists, and managers have accumulated practical experience managing shortages, substitution, and alternative sourcing. Iranian manufacturers therefore do not design procurement systems around the assumption that every international supplier will remain available indefinitely, making adaptation part of ordinary commercial planning.

Iran's geography provides another economic advantage, because the country borders Turkey, Iraq, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan while possessing coastlines reaching the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman. Those borders connect Iranian commerce with the Caucasus, Central Asia, South Asia, the Persian Gulf, Turkey, and Iraq, while transportation corridors also connect Iran with Russia and wider Eurasian markets. Financial sanctions can make transactions more difficult, but they cannot physically relocate Iran or eliminate its access to neighboring markets, suppliers, transportation routes, and established regional trading relationships. Iran has consequently developed commercial links involving Iraq, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and China through years of sustained economic interaction, the report by Mehr News added.