Iran President Pezeshkian calls for unity as US ramps up economic pressure

Al Jazeera:

Tehran, Iran – President Masoud Pezeshkian has insisted that officials and Iranians will stand united in the face of United States economic pressure, saying national cohesion was enough to “neutralise” any attempts to create discord within the country.

The US announced an “Economic D-Day” against Tehran last month, the toughest sanctions regime in Washington’s history aimed at severing all economic lifelines that “sustain the Iranian regime and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)”.

Pezeshkian said the economic measures will not force his government to make any abrupt policy shifts, which might lead to further unrest in the country.

“Through war, blockade and sanctions, the enemies seek to create division, fissures and unrest inside the country,” the president reportedly told officials on Friday.

Pezeshkian was likely referring to events in 2019 and 2020, which began with protests against high fuel prices and unravelled into a wider antigovernment uprising.

“People are now on the edge; if I impose another pressure, they may fall off,” Pezeshkian reminded the country during a televised appearance earlier this week.

He did confirm that his administration will still double the price of one of three tiers of petrol quotas offered to private vehicles over the coming weeks and reduce monthly petrol quotas.

Iran still faces critical energy supply shortages due to rampant fuel smuggling, severe damage or neglect of oil and gas infrastructure, and expensive yet low-quality, fuel-hungry vehicles.

But any wider petrol price hike would impact logistics costs and feed rampant inflation, which is affecting all Iranian households, the president has indicated.

Iran’s national currency hit a new all-time low of more than 2.25 million rials per US dollar when Tehran’s market opened for the start of the working week on Saturday.