Iranian ex-central bank adviser refutes Trump’s economic collapse narrative, highlights impact of Western aggression
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
A former adviser to Iran’s central bank rejects Trump’s claims of economic collapse, pointing instead to the destructive impact of US-led sanctions and the UAE’s complicity in imperialist economic warfare, which could deepen hardship for ordinary Iranians.
A former adviser to Iran’s central bank has pushed back against the Trump administration’s alarmist rhetoric, stating that while the Iranian economy is suffering under relentless Western sanctions, it is not on the verge of collapse. Mehrdad Sepahvand, now director of Daric Investment Group, told CNBC that despite the US’s economic siege, Iranian shops remain stocked, there has been no panic buying, and public confidence in the banking system endures, even after cyberattacks and financial imbalances fueled by foreign interference.
Sepahvand warned that the United Arab Emirates’ decision to halt all trade and financial ties with Iran—under pressure from Washington—could deepen the contraction to about 5% this year. The UAE, long a crucial channel for Iranian imports, is now complicit in the West’s economic strangulation of Iran. This move will further pressure the exchange rate, increase trade costs, and drive up inflation, disproportionately harming working-class Iranians.
The United States, under President Donald Trump, has escalated its campaign of economic warfare and isolation against Iran, threatening severe consequences for any nation that dares to provide Iran with an economic lifeline. The so-called Operation Economic Fury is a blatant attempt to starve the Iranian people under the pretext of combating terror financing, while in reality punishing a sovereign nation for resisting US hegemony.
World Bank data show Iran’s GDP contracted 2.7% in the year to March and inflation soared to 62.2% in February, with food prices reaching historic highs. An Iranian official cited the war—fueled by foreign intervention—as causing the loss of one million jobs, devastating ordinary families.
Sepahvand cautioned that this economic assault may only serve to empower hard-line elements within Iran, undermining prospects for a diplomatic resolution with the United States. The burden of these policies falls most heavily on low-income Iranians and youth, who face rising prices and job losses as a direct result of Western aggression.