Iran Faces Pressure on All Sides as Inflation Nears 90% and US Sends More Aircraft Carriers
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Iran is facing mounting economic and military pressure after the United States expanded its forces in the Middle East, while oil exports from the region have begun to recover. Bloomberg reported, citing officials and analysts, that Iran's inflation rate is approaching 90% and that the Iranian rial has weakened by about 25% against the dollar over the past two months, losing nearly half its value since the start of the year. At the same time, US export blockades have sharply reduced Iran's crude oil exports, with preliminary estimates indicating that Iran did not load crude onto tankers in September, even though some refineries in China continue to take oil from floating storage. Iran has therefore turned to expanding trade through land borders and the Caspian Sea, but these routes still lack the capacity to fully replace shipments through the Persian Gulf. On the military front, the administration of President Donald Trump is sending the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt along with roughly 10,000 additional sailors and marines toward the Middle East, which could give the United States as many as three carrier strike groups stationed in the region. Diplomatic talks have made no progress, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi proposing that Iran allow inspectors back into its nuclear program in exchange for a easing of sanctions, and the United States announced sanctions on October 1 against Iran's largest automaker and a rail systems company, after earlier measures affected Iranian flight routes. Iran is meanwhile preparing for the possibility that the United States will launch another round of airstrikes, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has warned it will retaliate if there is a new attack from the United States or Israel.