Trump shifts to economic pressure on Iran after military threat ebbs
Why it matters: Iran still sends most oil to China, but a Hormuz blockade and a collapsing rial are deepening the strain.
President Donald Trump is pivoting back to economic pressure on Iran after stepping away from threatened military action, CNN Indonesia reported, citing an Axios interview published Sunday. The shift comes after Iran imposed new conditions for lifting a blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for about one-fifth of global commercial oil shipments. Iran’s economy has been battered by years of sanctions, conflict and damage to infrastructure. The rial has fallen to about 1.84 million per US dollar on the open market, while prices for food, medicine, cars, electrical goods and petrochemicals have climbed sharply. Even so, Iran has continued moving oil through covert exports to China and alternative overland routes.