{"id":19526,"date":"2026-07-28T05:05:43","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T00:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=19526"},"modified":"2026-07-28T05:05:43","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T00:05:43","slug":"u-s-officials-believe-sanctions-could-hurt-iran-more-than-bombs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=19526","title":{"rendered":"U.S. officials believe sanctions could hurt Iran more than bombs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/5uv_3Uiu4jkH3htOBhmknxQ29XE=\/0x0:5616x3159\/1366x768\/2026\/07\/27\/1785195160199.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>President Trump&#8217;s economic assault on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/world\/iran\" target=\"_blank\">Iran<\/a> has drawn a fraction of the attention devoted to his bombing campaign, even as senior U.S. officials believe it may ultimately do more damage to the regime in Tehran.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why it matters: <\/strong>U.S. intelligence and open-source media reports point to a <a href=\"https:\/\/iranfocus.com\/economy\/58402-irans-economy-on-the-brink-of-hyperinflation\/\" target=\"_blank\">deepening economic crisis<\/a> inside Iran, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iranintl.com\/en\/202607250066\" target=\"_blank\">gasoline shortages<\/a> in one of the world&#8217;s most oil-rich countries.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;The Iranians want to stop being bombed and they want money,&#8221; a senior administration official said. &#8220;But that&#8217;s almost in reverse order. They really want the money first.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Driving the news<\/strong>: Trump, who paused U.S. strikes against Iran over the weekend after 13 consecutive days of attacks, said Monday that Tehran had requested a meeting to discuss a deal.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei denied that claim.<\/li>\n<li>Both sides are talking to mediators, led by Oman, Qatar and Pakistan, who are seeking to convert the pause in fighting into a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/07\/21\/iran-war-ceasefire-proposal-trump-troops\" target=\"_blank\">durable new ceasefire<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Zoom in<\/strong>: A major focus of the talks is a proposal that would give Iran and Oman a measure of authority \u2014 and potential revenue \u2014 in managing traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The arrangement would draw elements from the cooperative framework used by Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Some of the Iranians want this. Others don&#8217;t. That&#8217;s part of the issue,&#8221; the senior administration official said.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Iran wants assurances<\/strong> it won&#8217;t be attacked again by the United States.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It also wants money \u2014 both unfrozen assets and freedom U.S. sanctions.<\/li>\n<li>Trump is wary of rewarding Iran for disrupting traffic through the strait and is demanding that Tehran surrender its remaining nuclear material.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Zoom out:<\/strong> A second U.S. official acknowledged that sanctions and the U.S. naval blockade will take longer to force Tehran to the table than a full-scale bombing campaign, which Trump has so far declined to authorize.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>That prolonged timeline could deepen <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/07\/19\/gas-prices-iran-war-trump-election\" target=\"_blank\">Republicans&#8217; political exposure<\/a>, leaving them to defend an unpopular war and elevated gas prices through the midterm campaign.<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;I have a lot of patience,&#8221; Trump told reporters Monday. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Between the lines: <\/strong>&#8220;Intelligence is picking up that the Iranians are complaining they can&#8217;t pay their fighters,&#8221; that official said. &#8220;Why? Because of the financial pressures. Because of Treasury. Because of what [Treasury Secretary] Scott Bessent is doing.&#8221;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;They&#8217;re in danger of runs on banks. There are gasoline shortages in this giant oil-rich country,&#8221; the official added. &#8220;They&#8217;re more scared of Treasury than the War Department.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Inside the room<\/strong>: In prior talks with U.S. negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, the Iranians made clear that gaining access to money was a central priority, according to U.S. officials.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;They&#8217;re begging Steve and Jared for cash. They&#8217;re desperate for it,&#8221; one of the officials claimed.<\/li>\n<li>The Trump administration has <a href=\"https:\/\/home.treasury.gov\/news\/press-releases\/sb0341\" target=\"_blank\">imposed sanctions<\/a> on more than 1,000 people, vessels and aircraft under its revived maximum-pressure campaign, targeting Iran&#8217;s oil trade, shadow banking system, weapons procurement and shipping networks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The intrigue: <\/strong>Trump has said he paused the bombing to give diplomacy a chance. His decision also followed a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/07\/26\/hormuz-bombing-pause-trump-iran\" target=\"_blank\">warning from Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Dan Caine<\/a> about pressure on U.S. weapons stockpiles in Central Command, especially supplies of air-defense interceptors, sources told Axios.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The senior U.S. official described Caine&#8217;s warning as standard military procedure.<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;The overall stockpiles aren&#8217;t depleted or at zero,&#8221; the official said. &#8220;When you have to consider pulling from stockpiles around the world, that comes with risks, and you have to present that to the commander in chief. He decides. He&#8217;s the decider.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Yes, but<\/strong>: Critics of Trump&#8217;s war efforts say the president has few attractive options and question whether either military strikes or economic pressure will force Iran to accept his terms.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Iran generated an estimated $23 billion in oil revenue during the first half of the year \u2014 exceeding its budget projections \u2014 according to<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BrettErickson28\/status\/2073861424615657808\" target=\"_blank\"> Brett Erickson<\/a>, an analyst with Obsidian Risk Advisors.<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Economic warfare is a fundamentally broken approach to the Iran War,&#8221; Erickson <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BrettErickson28\/status\/2081851932470288629\" target=\"_blank\">wrote<\/a> Monday on X.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What they&#8217;re saying:<\/strong> White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Axios that Trump &#8220;prefers a diplomatic solution, but he continues to retain all options if Iran continues terrorist activities in the Strait of Hormuz or against allies.&#8221;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Combined with successful sanctions that have crippled Iran&#8217;s economy and 13 straight days of strikes against military targets in response to their repeated aggression, it would be wise for Iran to work toward a negotiated deal,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Otherwise, they know what will happen.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Said another U.S. official: &#8220;The president has a win-win optionality. The U.S. is capable to prosecuting this militarily to the fullest extent. And the U.S. is capable to exerting economic sanctions that cripple Iran.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Trump&#8217;s economic assault on Iran has drawn a fraction of the attention devoted to his bombing campaign, even as senior U.S. officials believe it may ultimately do more damage to the regime in Tehran. Why it matters: U.S. intelligence and open-source media reports point to a deepening economic crisis inside Iran, including gasoline shortages&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/5uv_3Uiu4jkH3htOBhmknxQ29XE=\/0x0:5616x3159\/1366x768\/2026\/07\/27\/1785195160199.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19526\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}