CBI chief downplays US economic collapse remarks as psy-war
Iran has enough foreign currency and will not face an economic collapse, Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Governor Abdolnasser Hemmati said on Tuesday, dismissing fresh US economic pressure on the country as psychological warfare.
“I am telling the President of the United States: Iran has (foreign) currency and it has enough,” Hemmati said at the 36th Islamic Banking Conference in Tehran.
His remarks came after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed “Tehran is lashing out with military actions because it is losing ground economically.”
The comments come as part of the broader US administration effort to enforce secondary sanctions and a naval blockade to cut Iran off from global finance and oil markets.
“Enemies impose new sanctions on Iran every week, but the country’s economic system continues to operate,” Hemmati said.
He also rejected claims that Iran had entered an economic collapse.
“I firmly say that the claim that Iran has entered an economic collapse is not true, and there will be no breakdown,” he said.
“The CBI is also prepared to supply up to $2 billion in foreign currency to the market,” Hemmati said, adding that the recent rise in exchange rates was driven more by psychological factors than underlying economic conditions.
He said the current turbulence in the foreign exchange market would subside and that the recent rise in the exchange rate was driven more by psychological factors than by underlying economic conditions.
Iran’s national currency has dropped to record lows the US dollar trading at around 2,140,000 rials on the open market on Tuesday.
The depreciation has underscored growing strain on an economy already grappling with high inflation. The country has also remained on a war footing since a US-Israeli coalition launched attacks in late February, particularly targeting civilians and infrastructure during a 40-day conflict.
Hemmati said the CBI was continuing to collect foreign currency receivables and had domestic reserves as well as other resources, though details could not be disclosed.
“I tell the people with complete honesty that economic conditions and livelihood management have become difficult, but collapse has never happened and will never happen. These claims are just psychological warfare and the dust will settle soon,” Hemmati said.
Bessent said on Monday that Iran was taking US sanctions seriously.
Washington has been increasingly relying on economic pressure to try to force Tehran to meet its demands, and Bessent has warned that those doing business with Iran could face US sanctions.
Hemmati pushed back against that assessment, saying even more optimistic experts had expected Iran’s economy to move toward hyperinflation as the war and economic pressure intensified. But despite the heavy burden of inflation on people’s daily lives, he said, Iran had not entered hyperinflation and he considered the likelihood of that happening low.
The governor said monetary and prudential measures had helped control the pace of inflation. He said the bank’s main task under current conditions was to control inflation and prevent the