MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The Trump administration says today marks the start of a new phase in the war with Iran.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
It's what U.S. officials are calling economic D-Day against Iran after the president threatened a new campaign of sanctions against the country last week on social media. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected to explain what those sanctions will consist of in a press conference later today.
MARTIN: For Iran's reaction to these threats, we're going to turn to NPR's Hadeel Al-Shalchi in Istanbul. Good morning to you, Hadeel.
HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, BYLINE: Good morning.
MARTIN: So what are Iranian leaders saying?
AL-SHALCHI: Well, just today, the foreign ministry's spokesperson called the expected sanctions a form of economic terrorism to punish Iran. And then over the weekend, Iran's new security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, gave an interview to state TV and outlined Iran's position. He said Iran would retaliate in a, quote, "seismic manner" to President Trump's economic plans.
And his main warning was to the Gulf states that surround Iran. He said that any country partnering in these new economic restrictions would be considered an enemy and that Iran will target their interests. And as you know, since the war broke out almost six months ago, Iran has targeted U.S. installations in Jordan and Gulf countries like the UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia with drones and missiles. And those attacks have been fatal.
MARTIN: How did he say Iran would do this?
AL-SHALCHI: Well, Rezaei said that Iran would attack oil tankers leaving through the Persian Gulf through alternative routes from the Strait of Hormuz so that, quote, not even "a single drop of oil" will leave from the region. Right now, Iran isn't interfering with alternative routes, so this could be devastating to oil supplies. We are yet to hear any comments from Gulf countries about these new economic sanctions - if they support them, reject them, what they mean for them.
MARTIN: So Iran has spent almost half a century weathering U.S. sanctions, and it's ordinary Iranians who bear the brunt of their consequences. What are you hearing from them today?
AL-SHALCHI: Like you said, before the war, the economy in Iran wasn't doing that great already - double-digit inflation, currency devaluation, systemic mismanagement. There were severe supply chain bottlenecks. Iranians were forced to rely on illegal black markets to access basic necessities. Today, Iran's rial currency hit a new record low of 2 million to the dollar in morning trading.
We spoke to a 30-year-old woman who asked us not to use her name for fear of retaliation from the Iranian government. She said most ordinary Iranians are buying food using a credit system because many don't have enough cash.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Speaking Persian).
AL-SHALCHI: "Since I am in debt to the grocery store," she says, "I couldn't even buy tomato paste to cook pasta." She also says that lifesaving medicines like insulin are becoming too expensive to buy - that Iranians risk becoming ruined financially if they pay for things like a doctor's visit, an IV, injections. She told us that meat is almost $5 per pound and just over $11 for a gallon of cooking oil.
But daily life has also become more difficult. There's more power cuts. Infrastructure's been hit badly. Unemployment has gone up. And the prices of the government-subsidized gas has spiked. Like we heard, the political unrest that Iranians were protesting earlier in the year were because of how expensive it was in Iran, but it's unclear if new pressures run the risk of sparking more protests. So really, Michel, for ordinary Iranians already struggling under sky-high inflation and these potential new sanctions, it means that an already desperate situation is only getting worse.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Hadeel Al-Shalchi in Istanbul. Hadeel, thank you.
AL-SHALCHI: You're very welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
