Iran's Top Security Official Says Country Faces One of Its Most Difficult Periods as War Hits Economy

Iran's top security official has warned that the country is going through one of the hardest stretches in its history, as the war with the United States and Israel and a US naval blockade grind down the economy, The New York Times reported.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, made what the Times called a "rare admission" on Saturday at a high-level government meeting on how to stabilise the economy after more than seven months of war.

What Rezaei said

Iranian state media did not publish direct quotes from Rezaei's remarks. However, Iran's state news agency IRNA reported that he "described the circumstances as among the most difficult periods the country has faced" and told the meeting that the security council would provide whatever support it could, according to the Times.

President Masoud Pezeshkian and senior ministers also attended the meeting, according to state media. Rezaei also said the negotiation process was serious, Iranian media reported.

Pezeshkian promises a "new posture"

Pezeshkian acknowledged the worsening conditions in a social media statement on Saturday. He said his government "has adopted a new posture to manage the special conditions," but did not explain what that would mean in practice.

Rial slide and blockade

The rial has fallen sharply since the war began in February, and the slide has sped up in recent weeks after Washington tightened sanctions and enforced a naval blockade, the Times reported. That has pushed up the cost of imports and deepened a long-running cost-of-living crisis.

Analysts say the blockade has largely stopped Iran from exporting oil, cutting off its main source of revenue and causing a fuel crisis, according to the report.

Workers quitting, pensioners protesting

In recent days, government and private-sector employees, including nurses and teachers, have posted on social media that they were quitting because their salaries could no longer support them, the Times said. Iranian local media have reported protests by retired government employees who said they had not received their full pensions.

Diplomacy stalled

The economic pressure is building while talks between Tehran and Washington remain stuck, with both sides refusing to make concessions. US officials have argued in recent weeks that they are winning the economic standoff, while analysts say Iran's leaders hope the pressure could hurt President Donald Trump ahead of the US midterm elections, the Times reported.

The United States has also blocked most civilian air travel between Iran and the rest of the world, which some sanctions experts say could hurt critical imports, including medicine.