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Trump’s ‘Economic Fury’ squeezes Iran — but can Tehran outlast the pressure?
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As the Trump administration escalates its campaign against Iran through sanctions, naval pressure and financial enforcement, a central question is emerging: Can unprecedented economic strain truly weaken the regime, or will Iran’s rulers once again absorb the pain, suppress unrest and survive?
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a Tuesday post on X that the «Economic Fury» campaign already has disrupted «tens of billions of dollars in revenue» that would otherwise support terrorism, while arguing Iran’s inflation has doubled and its currency has sharply depreciated under the current maximum pressure campaign.
Bessent also warned that Kharg Island, Iran’s primary oil export terminal, is nearing storage capacity and could soon force production cuts, which he said may cost the regime an additional roughly $170 million per day in lost revenue.
IRAN IS ‘TRYING TO GIVE THE GLOBAL ECONOMY A HEART ATTACK’ BY CLOSING STRAIT OF HORMUZ, UAE MINISTER SAYS
The escalating pressure campaign marks one of the most aggressive U.S. efforts in years to economically isolate Iran. But the central question is whether this strategy can force meaningful concessions from a regime that has historically absorbed economic pain, or whether it risks triggering broader instability — from energy market shocks to regional escalation — before Iran is pushed to a breaking point.
A cargo ship sails in the Persian Gulf toward the Strait of Hormuz on April 22, 2026. (AP Photo)
A senior administration official told Fox News Digital that Treasury is aggressively expanding «Economic Fury» beyond traditional sanctions by targeting Iran’s ability to generate, move and repatriate funds across oil, banking, cryptocurrency and covert trade networks.
The official said Treasury has disrupted billions in projected Iranian oil revenue in recent days alone, including freezing $344 million in regime-linked cryptocurrency, while also escalating pressure on Chinese «teapot» refineries, foreign banks and sanctions-evasion networks facilitating Tehran’s trade.
The Treasury also has warned financial institutions in China, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and Oman that continued facilitation of Iranian illicit commerce could trigger secondary sanctions, while signaling that foreign companies — including airlines — may also face penalties if they support prohibited Iranian activity.
But Alireza Nader, an Iranian independent analyst based in Washington, is skeptical that economic pressure alone will force a strategic breaking point.
«It looks like a game of chicken and I think the regime thinks that it can win this game of chicken with President Trump,» he told Fox News Digital.
«I don’t see this economic blockade … leading to some sort of breaking point for the regime,» Nader added, arguing that Iran’s leadership has repeatedly shown it is willing to let ordinary citizens bear extraordinary suffering to preserve power.
«The regime cares about staying in power,» he said, warning that public hardship does not necessarily translate into vulnerability.
«The economic clock is moving much faster on Iran than on its adversaries.»
That skepticism stands in stark contrast to Miad Maleki, a former Treasury sanctions analyst, who argues Washington may now hold its greatest leverage over Iran since the 1979 revolution.
«We’ve never had the level of leverage that we have today with Iran in the history of our conflict … since 1979,» Maleki said.
NEXT MOVE ON IRAN: SEIZE KHARG ISLAND, SECURE URANIUM OR RISK GROUND WAR ESCALATION
A senior administration official said Treasury has disrupted billions in projected Iranian oil revenue in recent days alone. (CENTCOM)
For Maleki, what makes this moment different is not sanctions alone, but the convergence of sanctions, naval blockade and aggressive secondary enforcement.
He said Iran’s already fragile economy — marked by 104% food inflation and a roughly 90% collapse in purchasing power — could face roughly $435 million in daily economic losses if maritime restrictions hold.
«Iran’s economy relies on the Strait of Hormuz more than any other economy,» Maleki said, arguing that disruption around the strait may ultimately hurt Iran faster than its adversaries.
If restrictions are fully enforced, Maleki warned, «crude onshore storage shortages in about 7 to 14 days, then they can buy a few weeks with filling up a dozen tankers already in the Persian Gulf, but they have to start dropping oil extraction now in anticipation of running out of storage. They are also facing gasoline shortages in matters of days or a few weeks, forced oil-production cuts, and eventually banking or salary strain.»
Independent shipping intelligence from from shipping intelligence firm Kpler suggests Iran’s oil bottleneck may already be intensifying, though perhaps on a slightly longer timeline than some sanctions advocates predict.
Before the conflict, Iran exported roughly 2 million barrels of oil per day, Court Smith, Kpler’s head of engagements and partnerships, told Lauren Simonetti at FOX Business, but current exports appear closer to 1 million barrels daily, leaving an estimated 1 million barrels per day accumulating in storage.
Smith estimated Iran may have roughly 30 days before shoreside storage faces severe capacity constraints under current conditions, while warning that older fields or marginal wells could already be facing early shut-in pressures.
To buy time, Iran has reportedly begun pulling decades-old tankers out of storage for temporary floating capacity, a sign of mounting logistical strain.
Former Israeli national security adviser Yaakov Amidror argues the blockade should not be judged by whether it forces immediate capitulation, but by whether Washington has the patience to let time erode Iran’s strength.
«Blockade is one of the oldest forms of warfare,» Amidror said. «Blockade equals time.»
In his view, the strategy’s advantage is precisely that it imposes relatively low costs on the United States while gradually exhausting Iran’s economy.
«The siege does its work. It weakens Iran,» he said, describing it as one of the cheapest long-term methods of pressure available.
Amidror also pushed back forcefully against claims that modern enforcement is unrealistic.
«I don’t buy the idea that the U.S. Navy in the 21st century can’t monitor the 35 kilometers of blockade» he said, arguing that American surveillance, satellites and naval assets are more than capable of controlling the choke point over time.
Danny Citrinowicz, a nonresident fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs, offers a far more skeptical view.
«The blockade won’t force Iran to capitulate,» Citrinowicz said.
BLOCKADE 101: AMERICAN SEA POWER ON DISPLAY AS TRUMP CORNERS IRAN AND WARNS OFF CHINA
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a Tuesday post on X that the «Economic Fury» campaign already has disrupted «tens of billions of dollars in revenue» that would otherwise support terrorism. (U.S. Navy/Handout via Reuters)
«This country is under sanctions since 1979 … they know how to make adjustments,» he added.
«The regime isn’t just dependent on oil and energy exports to survive, it has other means of income,» Nader argued, «Oil and natural gas are its biggest sources of income, but I think this regime has made a calculation that it can withstand even months of economic siege because it may think that the Trump administration is more vulnerable to political pressure.»
«Look,» he added, «American voters vote in the president and vote out the president. In Iran, nobody’s voted in and out. The regime maintains power through brutal force. If there are public disturbances, if there are new uprisings, the regime will try to deal with them as it has in the past to mass violence, killing thousands of people. That’s how this regime stays in power.»
Citrinowicz warned that Iran may escalate regionally or exploit global energy vulnerabilities long before economic collapse forces surrender, potentially driving oil prices sharply upward and creating international political pressure before Tehran truly breaks.
«In the pain game … the world will feel that before,» he said.
That leaves the administration facing a strategic endurance contest: Can economic warfare degrade Iran faster than the regime can adapt, repress and weaponize global pain?
Nader believes Iran’s rulers may still calculate that they can outlast U.S. patience through repression and resource management.
Maleki believes the economic «clock is moving much faster» on Iran than on its adversaries.
Amidror argues time itself may be Washington’s greatest weapon.
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A senior administration official told Fox News Digital that Treasury is aggressively expanding «Economic Fury» beyond traditional sanctions by targeting Iran’s ability to generate, move and repatriate funds across oil, banking, cryptocurrency and covert trade networks. (Petty Officer 3rd Class Tajh Payne/U.S. Navy/Reuters)
And Citrinowicz warns that if the United States expects quick capitulation, it may be underestimating both Iran’s resilience and its willingness to escalate.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Iranian mission to the U.N., CENTCOM and the Pentagon for comment.
war with iran, inflation, us navy, economy, iran, sanctions
INTERNACIONAL
La película Cordillera de Fuego llega a la capital guatemalteca con su primera proyección oficial
La película Cordillera de Fuego debutó jueves en la capital guatemalteca con su primera proyección oficial en el Teatro al Aire Libre del Centro Cultural Miguel Ángel Asturias, una presentación que puso en circulación nacional la quinta cinta de Jayro Bustamante y situó desde el inicio su eje temático: la amenaza de un nuevo volcán, la vulnerabilidad de comunidades mayas y el peso de la corrupción y los intereses económicos sobre una emergencia.
La producción fue filmada en 2022 en municipios de Sololá como San Lucas Tolimán, San Andrés Semetabaj y Santiago Atitlán, además de la ciudad de Guatemala, y según la productora supuso una inversión de USD 1.5 millones en la economía local. La película incorpora diálogos en español, kaqchikel y tz’utujil.
El estreno de gala reunió al director, al elenco, al equipo de producción, representantes del sector cultural, invitados especiales y medios de comunicación. Varios integrantes del equipo viajaron desde Santiago Atitlán y San Lucas Tolimán para participar en la función del jueves 2 de julio, que cerró entre aplausos.
La trama se centra en Paula, una vulcanóloga que intenta poner a salvo a poblaciones mayas amenazadas por el surgimiento de un nuevo volcán. En ese proceso enfrenta intereses políticos y económicos que, de acuerdo con la sinopsis y la presentación de la obra, convierten el desastre en un terreno de disputa y agravan el riesgo para miles de personas.
La cinta combina ficción, ciencia y drama, y también incorpora elementos de realismo mágico, según el texto de presentación de la producción. El relato explora la relación entre desastres naturales, resistencia comunitaria, territorio y desigualdades que atraviesan a los pueblos indígenas del país.
Bustamante explicó después de la función que la película se aparta del modelo centrado en un héroe individual. “Para los pueblos originarios de Mesoamérica, el viaje de un individuo no tiene importancia si no afecta a la comunidad”, afirmó.
Esa definición ordena buena parte de la propuesta narrativa de la obra, que prioriza el relato colectivo sobre la figura de un solo protagonista. El cineasta sostuvo además que la producción buscó demostrar la capacidad instalada del país para sostener una película de gran escala con personal local: “El objetivo era demostrarnos a nosotros mismos que ya podíamos cubrir todos los puestos y realizar una película de esta magnitud únicamente con el enorme talento que existe en Guatemala”.
La película fue protagonizada por María Mercedes Coroy, quien interpreta a la vulcanóloga, y cuenta con actuaciones de María Telón, Juan Pablo Olyslager, Tatiana Palomo, Enrique Salanic, Willian Toc y Jonathan Shitamúl. Según la presentación del proyecto, el elenco y el equipo técnico reflejan una apuesta sostenida por el talento guatemalteco.
Bustamante destacó que el rodaje se realizó casi en su totalidad con personal guatemalteco, tanto frente como detrás de cámaras, una meta que la productora persigue desde sus primeras películas. La obra también incorporó un programa de formación para nuevos talentos de las comunidades donde se desarrolló la filmación.
La actriz y guionista Margarita Kenéfic señaló que muchas de las personas que participaron en el rodaje habían vivido desplazamientos provocados por desastres naturales, una experiencia que, según explicó, alimentó la construcción del relato. “Esta es una película de toda Guatemala”, expresó.
Según explicó la producción a Prensa Libre, la película incorpora además un trasfondo histórico concreto: la erupción del volcán de Fuego de 2018, cuando el coloso liberó flujos piroclásticos sobre aldeas situadas en sus laderas. El hecho dejó miles de personas fallecidas y desaparecidas, además de graves daños materiales.
Cordillera de Fuego llegó a la Ciudad de Guatemala después de su estreno en Santiago Atitlán. La función en el Centro Cultural Miguel Ángel Asturias incluyó una alfombra roja, un encuentro con el director y parte del elenco, y la primera exhibición oficial del largometraje ante el público capitalino.
Como parte de la velada también se presentó el primer avance de Erupción, el próximo largometraje documental de Bustamante. Ese proyecto, según se anunció durante la actividad, explorará la memoria histórica del país a partir de testimonios, arte y danza.
Cordillera de Fuego,Jayro Bustamante,cine,teatro,presentación,7 Stages Theatre
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Cuba’s foreign minister accused the United States of committing an «act of war» by restricting fuel shipments to the island Tuesday, prompting U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz to deliver a forceful response blaming Cuba’s communist government for years of blackouts, repression and economic collapse.
The confrontation unfolded at the U.N. General Assembly one day after Cuba’s national electrical grid collapsed, leaving nearly 10 million people without power. It was the third nationwide grid failure this year and the eighth since October 2025, Reuters reported.
Cuban officials had restored electricity to parts of central Cuba and roughly one-third of Havana by Tuesday morning, although large areas remained offline or faced unstable service, according to Reuters.
CUBA PLUNGES INTO THIRD MAJOR BLACKOUT THIS YEAR AS POWER CRISIS WORSENS
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz holds up a photograph of jailed Cuban dissidents during a General Assembly debate on the U.S. embargo against Cuba at U.N. headquarters in New York on July 7, 2026. (UNTV)
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez told delegates that the Trump administration was carrying out a «multidimensional, non-conventional war» against Cuba that had grown «more cruel and ruthless in the last seven months.»
Rodríguez described U.S. efforts to restrict fuel deliveries as the imposition of «an energy collapse, equivalent to a naval blockade, which is an act of war,» according to a UNTV transcript.
Waltz rejected the claim that the United States had established a naval blockade around Cuba.
«There is no ring of Navy warships, U.S. Navy warships sitting around this island blocking trade or humanitarian aid going into Cuba,» Waltz said. «It’s fake. It’s false. It’s a lie. Period.»
Waltz argued that the real embargo was the one Cuba’s government imposed on its own citizens.
HAVANA REGIME IN SUSPENSE AFTER CASTRO INDICTMENT WITH TRUMP PRESSURE ON, SAYS CUBAN-BORN GOP REP.
People walk on the street during a national electrical grid collapse, in Havana, Cuba, March 14, 2025. (Norlys Perez/Reuters)
«There’s a lot of talk today of an embargo. And indeed there is one,» he said. «It’s the embargo the Cuban regime mercilessly imposes on its own people decade after decade after decade.»
He called on Havana to «change your ways» and «turn the lights back on for your people,» while accusing Cuba’s leaders of ensuring that government compounds and propaganda operations had power even as families worried about spoiled food, hospitals losing electricity and phones running out of charge.
Waltz noted that Tuesday’s meeting came days before the fifth anniversary of the July 11, 2021, demonstrations, when thousands of Cubans took to the streets amid shortages of food, medicine and electricity and demanded greater freedom.
As Waltz spoke, a member of the Cuban delegation pounded on the table, prompting the ambassador to respond.
«This is not Havana. This is the United States of America. This is the United Nations,» Waltz said. «And we will speak, we will be heard, and we will not be silenced like your own people. So, pound away.»
Waltz displayed photographs and read the names of several jailed Cuban artists, musicians and activists, including Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Maykel Castillo Pérez and Duannis Dabel León Taboada.
MILLIONS LOSE POWER ACROSS CUBA AS TRUMP SANCTIONS CONTINUE TO FUEL ONGOING ENERGY CRISIS
Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez speaks during a news conference in Havana. (Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini)
«They’re not armed. They’re not violent,» Waltz said. «They carry flowers, and write poems and write music. And for that, the regime beats them, detains them and tries to break them.»
Waltz also said GAESA, Cuba’s military-run conglomerate, controls approximately half of the country’s economy and holds $18 billion in assets.
Reuters has reported that estimates of GAESA’s economic reach range from approximately 40% to 70%, while Cuban officials dispute the U.S. government’s $18 billion figure.
Waltz said that despite Cuba’s blockade claims, humanitarian assistance had recently arrived from countries including China, Russia, Mexico, Canada and Spain, as well as from the European Union and the United Nations.
He also said the United States had provided more than $100 million in aid this year and approximately $500 million annually in commodities.
«The answer is simple: because blaming the United States is the only economic plan Havana has left,» Waltz said of Cuba’s decision to bring the issue before the General Assembly.
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Protesters gather outside a Communist Party headquarters in Morón, Cuba, as a fire burns in the street during overnight unrest. Video obtained by Fox News Digital appeared to show demonstrators attempting to set fire to the building amid protests linked to widespread blackouts. (Reuters)
Before the wider debate, U.S. Representative for U.N. Management and Reform Jeffrey Bartos objected to reopening the agenda item and called for a vote on whether the proceedings should go forward.
Bartos said the three-hour meeting would cost approximately $84,000, money he argued could instead provide food, emergency medical supplies and solar lanterns to Cuban families.
«Right now, Cuba is in darkness — again,» Bartos said. «I urge the Cuban regime: turn the lights back on for your people.»
Members of the Cuban delegation also interrupted Bartos several times by pounding on the table. Bartos at one point paused and responded, «Keep banging away. It’s very effective,» before continuing his remarks.
Bartos accused Havana of seeking «another propaganda clip» rather than solutions and pointed to what he said were more than 800 political prisoners held by the government.
Independent organizations have produced varying estimates. Human Rights Watch said in April that more than 700 people remained imprisoned for political reasons, while Prisoners Defenders reported more than 1,200 political prisoners in Cuba in the spring of 2026. Cuba denies holding anyone for political reasons.
«That is the real Cuban embargo,» Bartos said. «It is the embargo the regime imposes on its own people: on speech, on faith, on enterprise, on dissent, on political rights and hope — and now, quite literally, on light.»
Rodríguez accused the U.S. delegation of offering «worn-out lies» and attempting to prevent the General Assembly from debating the effects of American policy.
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Jeff Bartos, U.S. Representative to the United Nations for Management and Reform, addresses a meeting of the Security Council at U.N. headquarters in New York City, Nov. 25, 2025. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)
Cuba’s electricity crisis has been driven by severe fuel shortages and an aging, poorly maintained power system that has struggled to meet demand. The Cuban government primarily blames U.S. restrictions, while Washington attributes the island’s broader economic crisis to communist economic policies, corruption and repression.
Reuters contributed to this report.
cuba, united nations, national security, world protests
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Encuentro en Turquía: Europa intenta contener a Donald Trump en una cumbre clave de la OTAN
Los europeos intentan salvar otra cumbre de la OTAN ante las embestidas de un Donald Trump que nunca entendió la organización y mucho menos el papel de su país en ella. El presidente estadounidense considera que los europeos se aprovechan de Estados Unidos desde hace 80 años, pero sin la plataforma que ofrece Europa, Washington sería incapaz de proyectar poder en el resto del mundo y habría perdido su primer mercado.
Trump llegó a Ankara este martes diciendo que estaba “muy decepcionado” por la respuesta que los europeos dieron a su aventura bélica en Irán. “Me decepcionó mucho”, dijo ante el anfitrión de la cumbre, el presidente turco Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “No necesitábamos ninguna ayuda, sólo estaba probándolos”. Aseguró que sólo asiste a la reunión “por Erdogan”, despreciando a los otros 30 gobernantes presentes.
El presidente estadounidense volvió a amenazar a Dinamarca al decir que “Groenlandia debería estar bajo control de Estados Unidos”, elevando la tensión de la cumbre incluso antes de su inicio formal. Trump hizo incluso referencias a la política migratoria europea (le parece blanda) y a la energética (rechaza las renovables que va sumando Europa).
Hace un año, en La Haya, Trump les exigió gastar en defensa el 5,0% del PBI. Todos aceptaron excepto el español Pedro Sánchez, que se sigue negando con el argumento de que no es ni militarmente necesario ni económicamente sostenible. La OTAN, sin Estados Unidos, ya gastaba en defensa siete veces más que Rusia antes de los aumentos del año pasado.
Los Estados miembros de la organización deben presentar en esta cumbre sus programas de gasto de los próximos años para llegar a ese 5%. España no lo hará. Otros lo harán a sabiendas de que su situación económica (deuda pública italiana por encima del 130% del PBI, francesa ya rozando el 120%) o política (el Reino Unido y sus recurrentes cambios de primer ministro) complican cumplir cualquier promesa.
Pero hay que contener a Trump. Así que la cumbre arrancó con un foro empresarial en el que se anunciaron acuerdos con la industria estadounidense por valor de 1.600 millones de euros, pecata minuta en un gasto militar que el año pasado subió en Europa un 20%. Alemania por su cuenta ya gasta más de 100.000 millones de euros al año.
Mark Rutte, secretario general de la Alianza Atlántica (el cargo es más de coordinación que de liderazgo) y ex primer ministro holandés, dedicado desde hace año y medio a aplaudir y halagar a Trump hasta límites que rozan el ridículo, vende una cumbre sin problemas, exitosa y de consolidación de la OTAN. Pero a los europeos les valdría con que Trump no rompiera nada.
La situación es tan incómoda que del borrador de declaración final se cayó por ahora toda referencia a la cumbre del próximo año, que debía celebrarse en Albania. Algunos creen que si no hay cumbre, hay menos posibilidad de chocar con el inquilino del Despacho Oval.
Rutte vende que los europeos están dando pasos rápidos y reales para asumir la seguridad del continente sin Estados Unidos, también en el flanco oriental y en el Ártico, donde Trump amenaza desde hace meses con arrebatarle por la fuerza a Dinamarca la isla de Groenlandia. Rutte, ciego a eso, dice que “toda la evidencia es de una Europa y una OTAN más fuertes”.
Pero Trump no parece escuchar. En los últimos meses dijo varias veces que la OTAN es “un tigre de papel” y critica con dureza que los europeos no quisieran ayudar a Estados Unidos en su aventura militar contra Irán, fuera del marco de la OTAN, sin haberles consultado y sin estrategia evidente.
Jens Stoltenberg, antecesor de Rutte en el cargo, decía este lunes que si Trump simplemente anuncia que Estados Unidos no se siente obligado por el tratado de la OTAN, es decir, que no defendería a un país aliado atacado por un tercer país, en la práctica la organización habría muerto.
Rutte intenta que se mire a otros lados. El lunes a última hora, después de que China hiciera un lanzamiento de un misil de prueba desde un submarino nuclear en el Pacífico, Rutte dijo que la OTAN no puede ser “ingenua” sobre el desarrollo militar chino, aunque el tratado fundacional de la Alianza Atlántica sólo cubre el espacio noratlántico, no el Pacífico, salvo que a China se le ocurriera atacar en territorio europeo, estadounidense o canadiense.
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