US House Passes Bill to Crack Down on University Boycotts of Israel

Washington's campaign to choke Iran's economy is becoming harder for Tehran to withstand, according to three senior Iranian sources. The United States has stepped up efforts to block Iranian oil exports, prevent sanctions evasion and cut off access to financing networks abroad.

The pressure aims to extract concessions in any future negotiations after six months of conflict failed to deliver an agreement. Iranian authorities bypassed sanctions for decades, but the latest measures have left fewer ways to obtain foreign currency and buy goods, the sources said. Tehran also has less cash to pay the high premiums needed to evade sanctions through illicit channels.

The conflict has returned to open fighting this week. US attacks along Iran's Gulf coast prompted retaliatory Iranian strikes on Arab states, while neither side has signaled readiness to accept the other's demands. More energy is reaching international markets through the Strait of Hormuz despite Iranian efforts to disrupt the waterway, but the US blockade has cut off Iran's main source of revenue from oil exports.

Iran's economic problems predated the conflict. Its currency is collapsing, inflation is spiraling, and months of bombing have created a large bill for rebuilding damaged industry and infrastructure. The rial has reached record lows, while one senior source said Iran has only about two months of gasoline supplies left. Despite its oil production, Iran imports gasoline because its refining capacity is limited.

Iran's leaders are aware that an economic collapse could reignite nationwide protests that authorities suppressed in January by killing thousands of demonstrators, the sources said. "They are under very, very severe economic pressure. They're losing control of the Straits. It's really a question of if they choose to negotiate and I think they'll have to," said Ali Ansari, a modern history professor at the University of St Andrews. The article says Iran also hopes inflation will influence the US administration before November's midterm elections.

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They are under very, very severe economic pressure. They're losing control of the Straits. It's really a question of if they choose to negotiate and I think they'll have to.