&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "\"Many problems\": Iran’s President acknowledges mounting domestic challenges as US tensions escalate")
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday (Aug 23) said the country is facing “many problems." This statement comes as an acknowledgement of the hardships citizens face amid tensions with the United States. The latter is looking to slam the nation with a new wave of sanctions in a bid to isolate Tehran’s economy. "I understand we have many problems in society right now. We are trying to prevent these as much as we can," Pezeshkian said in a speech broadcast on state television.
He added that actions by US President Donald Trump have placed the Islamic Republic in a "full-scale economic, military, and security war" involving "the most crushing and terrifying sanctions". The fresh punitive measures follow recent vows from Washington to engineer the economic "collapse" of the Iranian government, coming nearly six months after the onset of regional military hostilities. The sanctions hit an economy already battered by severe internal turmoil. Severe inflation, sharp currency fluctuations, and eroding purchasing power have fueled repeated public unrest in recent years. Late last December, protests over the rising cost of living swiftly expanded into widespread demonstrations against political leadership. The Iranian government has faced several mass protests in recent years, often triggered by economic hardships. These have also led to inflation and exchange rate swings, leading to declining purchasing power.
The official fallout from those demonstrations remains bitterly disputed, Iranian officials acknowledged over 3,000 deaths during the unrest, attributing the violence to covert operations by the US and Israel. Foreign-based non-governmental organisations stated that state security forces engaged in a broad, violent crackdown that killed thousands. Despite the converging external and internal crises, Pezeshkian pledged that his administration would focus on domestic stability and economic relief. "We are striving with all our hearts to overcome inflation, livelihood problems, unemployment, and to secure the future of the people, so that they can live with dignity and pride," he stated.
