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US economic chokehold on Iran reaches peak leverage as collapse risks emerge
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U.S. economic pressure on Iran has reached one of its most powerful points in decades, but inconsistent enforcement has prevented sanctions from achieving their full impact, according to a former Treasury sanctions expert.
Miad Maleki, who played a central role in Treasury Department sanctions campaigns against Iran and its network of proxy groups, said in an on-camera interview the current moment reflects a rare convergence of economic, political and diplomatic leverage against Tehran.
«We’ve never had the level of leverage that we have today with Iran in the history of our conflict … since 1979,» Maleki said.
His assessment comes as President Donald Trump signaled escalating pressure Thursday, writing on Truth Social that the United States has «total control over the Strait of Hormuz» and that it is effectively «sealed up tight» until Iran agrees to a deal.
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Maleki argues the current moment marks a turning point because multiple pressure tools — sanctions, a U.S. naval blockade, and tighter enforcement — are being applied simultaneously for the first time in years. Unlike previous cycles, he said, the strategy is now directly targeting Iran’s oil exports and the networks that help move them, raising the risk of a rapid economic squeeze.
He said Iran may run out of oil storage in as little as two to three weeks, forcing production cuts, while gasoline shortages could hit on a similar timeline due to heavy reliance on imports. Combined with an estimated $435 million in daily economic losses, the pressure could spill into the financial system, leaving the regime struggling to pay salaries and raising the risk of renewed unrest.
An oil tanker is seen near the terminal at Kharg Island, Iran, as U.S. officials and analysts consider whether seizing the island could significantly impact Iran’s oil exports. (Ali Mohammadi/Bloomberg)
Maleki said the real leverage lies in sustained economic pressure and enforcement.
At the core of that pressure is an Iranian economy he describes as «on the verge of collapse,» driven by years of sanctions and compounded by recent disruptions.
He pointed to triple-digit food inflation, a sharply devalued currency and a roughly 90% collapse in purchasing power, along with potential long-term oil revenue losses of up to $14 billion annually.
Maleki, who is currently a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, estimated that current conditions are costing Iran «about $435 million a day in combined economic damage … with the blockade and closure of the Strait of Hormuz.»
A key driver of that pressure is the Strait of Hormuz, long viewed as one of Iran’s primary tools of leverage in global energy markets. Maleki said the dynamic has shifted.
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Former President Donald Trump weighs a potential attack on Iran’s oil hub at Kharg Island amid expert predictions of market chaos. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto)
«Iran’s economy relies on the Strait of Hormuz more than any other economy,» he said, calling its closure a form of «economic self-sabotage.»
While countries in Asia — including Japan, South Korea, India and China — are most exposed to disruptions, many have built up reserves. «Japan’s oil reserve is pretty significant. Same with China,» Maleki said.
Still, the region remains heavily dependent on the waterway, with roughly 75% of liquefied natural gas supplies for countries including India, China and South Korea flowing through the strait.
Inside Iran, however, vulnerabilities are more immediate. Despite vast oil reserves, the country imports between 30 million to 60 million liters of gasoline per day to cover a domestic shortfall of up to 35 million liters.
«If they run out of gasoline… they’re going to have a major crisis domestically,» Maleki said, noting that past shortages and price hikes have triggered widespread protests.
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The economic pressure is being reinforced by a U.S. naval blockade targeting Iran’s oil exports, the regime’s primary source of revenue.
A billboard showing a portrait of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in U.S.-Israeli strikes, looms over an empty square in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (Vahid Salemi/AP Photo)
A senior administration official said the Treasury Department is intensifying enforcement under what it describes as an «Economic Fury» campaign, using financial and maritime tools in tandem to squeeze Iran’s revenue streams.
The official said the strategy focuses on «systematically degrading Iran’s ability to generate, move, and repatriate funds,» including by constraining maritime trade through the naval blockade, which targets Iran’s primary source of revenue from oil exports.
Financial pressure is also expanding globally. The official said Treasury has warned banks in China, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and Oman that facilitating Iranian trade could expose them to secondary sanctions, signaling a more aggressive approach to enforcement beyond Iran’s borders.
Treasury has issued sanctions on more than 1,000 targets since 2025 under the current maximum pressure campaign, the official said, aimed at disrupting Iran’s oil trade and financial networks.
The official added that Iran is facing immediate logistical constraints, warning that storage capacity at Kharg Island — the country’s main oil export terminal — could be filled within days if exports remain blocked, potentially forcing production shut-ins.
«Treasury will continue to freeze the funds stolen by the corrupt leadership on behalf of the people of Iran,» the official warned.
A new analysis from United Against Nuclear Iran said the blockade is already deterring high-value shipments, even as some Iran-linked vessels continue to transit the region.
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Iran seized two oil tankers Thursday while former Iranian minister Ezzatollah Zarghami threatened to make the Strait of Hormuz a «massacre and hell» for U.S. forces. (Giuseppe Cacace/AFP)
«Effectiveness should not be measured by the total number of Iran-linked vessels at sea,» the group said in an April 22 statement. «But by whether the U.S. is disrupting high-value Iranian oil exports… and deterring large-scale illicit shipments.»
At least 29 vessels have been turned around or forced back to port, including several very large crude carriers, according to the report.
The blockade, announced April 12 and enforced by U.S. Central Command, is designed to cut off Iranian crude exports, particularly shipments to China, while prioritizing high-impact targets.
While sanctions are clearly biting, Maleki said their impact has been limited by inconsistent enforcement across successive U.S. administrations.
U.S. sanctions on Iran have been in place in various forms for years, targeting the country’s oil exports, banking sector and access to global financial systems.
Under the Obama administration, sanctions pressure was partially lifted under the nuclear deal. The first Trump administration reimposed «maximum pressure,» but enforcement ramped up gradually and lasted only a limited period. The Biden administration later eased enforcement in pursuit of diplomacy.
He argued that cycles of tightening and relief — including sanctions rollback under the Iran nuclear deal and pauses in enforcement — have allowed Tehran to adapt.
«What’s different now,» Maleki said, is the combination of sustained sanctions with real-time enforcement measures that directly restrict Iran’s ability to export oil — a step that was largely absent in earlier phases.
To maximize pressure, Maleki said Washington must sustain enforcement, particularly through secondary sanctions targeting foreign banks and companies facilitating Iranian trade.
Crucially, he downplayed the likelihood that outside powers could offset the pressure.
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Anti-regime protests engulf the streets of Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 6, 2025. (Reuters)
«I can’t really point to any other nation… that is going to jump in and give the Iranian regime a lifeline,» he said.
«At some point in the next few weeks to a few months, they’re going to face not just gasoline shortages and oil production disruptions, but also a major banking problem to pay salaries of government employees and IRGC personnel,» he said. «Iranians run out of patience again, as they did before, and they’re back on the street. I’m not quite sure if you’re going to have unpaid IRGC forces willing to go back on the street and kill their fellow Iranians who have the same grievances that they have now, which is a collapsed economy.»
war with iran, inflation, economy, enforcement, iran, sanctions
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Blue state residents ‘fleeing in droves’ after ‘insane’ progressive takeover, says top state attorney
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A top state attorney in Democrat-controlled Maryland says he has had enough and is throwing in the towel after saying the Old Line State has suffered an «insane» «ultra-progressive» takeover.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Haven Shoemaker, state attorney for Maryland’s Carroll County, said that after decades in public service, he is «sick to death» of the policies that «emanate» from the state capital in Annapolis. He said he is especially disgusted with Maryland’s «sanctuary» policies and the high taxes he said are being levied in part to pay for more services for illegal immigrants.
«Maryland has become California on the Chesapeake,» said Shoemaker. «It only gets worse. It’s not getting better. And at some point, I just had to make a personal decision that it’s time to throw in the towel and head for what I believe are greener pastures.»
Shoemaker is not the only one. He said that he sees Marylanders giving up on the state «all the time.»
«The State of Maryland has one of the worst outward migration numbers of any state in the country right now,» he said. «So, I don’t know who’s going to be the last to foot the bill for the profligate spending that Annapolis likes to engage in, but it’s not going to be me, I can tell you that.»
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Marylanders are «fleeing in droves» under Democratic Gov. Wes Moore and the Democra-controlled State Assembly, according to Carroll County State Attorney Haven Shoemaker. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images; Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
Moore’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions. Fox News Digital also reached out to Maryland House Speaker Joseline A. Peña-Melnyk and Senate President Bill Ferguson for comment.
Born in Baltimore in the 1960s, Shoemaker spent three decades in local and state politics before taking the job as Carroll County’s top prosecutor in 2023. His career in public service includes seven years as mayor of Hampstead, Maryland, four years as a Carroll County commissioner and nine years in the Maryland House of Delegates. He rose to the role of House Minority Whip for the Maryland Republican Party.
Despite years deeply involved in state politics, Shoemaker said his decision to abandon Maryland has been a long time coming.
«I’ve been contemplating this move for a while, but the linchpin for me was this most recent legislative session where they essentially made Maryland a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants,» he told Fox News Digital.
Earlier this year, the Maryland General Assembly passed an emergency measure to ban local and state law enforcement agencies from cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) through what is known as the 287(g) program. Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore, whose name has been floated as a possible 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, signed the bill into law.
While emphasizing that law enforcement would continue cooperating with ICE on deporting individuals who «pose a risk to public safety,» Moore lauded the bill, saying, «We will not allow untrained, unqualified and unaccountable agents to deputize our brave local law enforcement officers,» according to WYPR.
While signing the measure, Moore stressed his view that «Maryland is a community of immigrants,» saying, «It is not our weakness, it’s our strength.»
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The Maryland State Capitol building in Annapolis, Md. (Getty Images)
Shoemaker, meanwhile, said that Maryland’s sanctuary-style policies are «just part of the problem.»
«In addition to that, their tax policy here is horrendous,» he said. He pointed to how state leaders raised taxes in Maryland last year by $1.6 billion.
The tax raise was passed by the State Assembly and approved by Democratic Gov. Wes Moore as part of a $67 billion state budget in 2025. The raise was part of a plan to address roughly a $3.3 billion budget deficit. Maryland’s budget is relatively large compared to other states, despite the state ranking 18th in population and 42nd in land size.
Shoemaker said that state leaders are «already looking at a structural deficit going into next year’s budget of another billion and a half or so.» He asserted the «handwriting is on the wall» that «Maryland politicians are beholden to their ultra-progressive base.»
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speak to members of the media outside the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 3, 2024. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg)
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In the end, Shoemaker said that he has finally decided to escape to the South and head for North Carolina.
«A lot of taxpayers from across the State of Maryland are fleeing in droves,» he said. He added a warning to Moore and other Maryland leaders: «If you want to staunch the bleeding that’s occurring, maybe you should rethink your policies.»
maryland, democratic party, immigration, taxes, illegal immigrants, sanctuary cities
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Senate hopeful says US should be ‘far more cooperative’ with China to fight climate change
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Maine Democrat Graham Platner is vowing to pursue closer ties with China if elected to the Senate, arguing that the U.S. should be «far more cooperative» with the communist state on issues like climate change.
«I think our position towards China should be one of cooperation instead of one of opposition,» Platner said during a livestream in February, arguing it would be «absurd» to have an aggressive approach toward Beijing, citing its trade relationship with the United States.
«I am not a China hawk, not by any stretch of the imagination,» he continued. «I think we need to be figuring out how to integrate, or at least be far more cooperative, especially to fight challenges like climate change.»
Platner, a staunch progressive, is running to unseat Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in November’s midterm elections. His views on China appear to be well outside the political mainstream and place him to the left of many Democratic lawmakers, who see the country as the United States’ most formidable strategic competitor or a geopolitical threat.
Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner has advocated for increased cooperation with China, citing its trade value to the United States and the need to partner on global challenges such as climate change. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)
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The Senate hopeful has also argued that fascism followed by climate change is the top two challenges facing the United States on the world stage.
«Before the rise of fascism, I would have said that the biggest challenge we have … globally is climate change,» Platner, an oyster farmer and combat veteran, said during the livestream.
Platner referred to federal immigration officers as «armed thugs,» accusing them of murdering American citizens, an apparent reference to two fatal shootings during an immigration enforcement surge in Minneapolis earlier this year.
He has previously advocated for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and dragging agents in front of Congress to testify about their work.
Platner’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) sharply criticized Platner’s remarks in a statement to Fox News Digital.
«Graham Platner’s soft-on-communism radical ideology would lift up dictators, threaten America’s national security, and cost American lives,» RNC spokeswoman Kristen Cianci said in a statement. «He has no business in the Senate or any position of power.»
Senate candidate Graham Platner, D-Maine, acknowledges a large crowd during a town hall at Bunker Brewing in Portland, Maine, on Sept. 25, 2025. (Daryn Slover/Portland Press Herald via AP)
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Platner is facing Maine Gov. Janet Mills, D-Maine, in an increasingly nasty primary that has split factions of the Democratic Party. Leading progressives, including Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., have endorsed him while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who leads the party’s establishment wing, is supporting Mills.
Sanders and Warren have doubled down on their embrace of Platner despite the political newcomer’s bevy of controversial online posts and scrutiny over a Nazi-linked tattoo that he has had removed.
Platner called for deposing Schumer as Democratic leader, weakening the filibuster to ease the passage of left-wing legislation and adding seats to the Supreme Court to dilute the power of the conservative majority, in an interview with NBC News this week.
Senate candidate Graham Platner of Maine and two-term Gov. Janet Mills are competing in the state’s Democratic Senate primary. (Sophie Park/Getty Images; Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
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The Sanders-backed oyster farmer has carved out a dominant lead in recent polling ahead of the June primary, despite Mills serving as the most senior-ranking Democrat in the state.
Collins is running for a sixth Senate term in the blue-leaning state. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the contest as a «toss-up.»
politics, midterm elections, bernie sanders, chuck schumer, senate elections, democrats senate
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