Iran has admitted that the US sanctions imposed on its economy following US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal are costing the Islamic republic hundreds of billions of dollars.
According to the London-based Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has gone on record as saying that so far it has inflicted $200 billion in damages on the country's economy.
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"Sanctions have disadvantaged the Islamic Republic of $100 billion in oil income within the final two years and an equal quantity in international funding credit score," the report said, citing Rouhani's official website.
Describing the sanctions as "extremely harsh," Rouhani lauded the Iranian people's "perseverance opposite the enemy."
Iranian economists believe that the local economy is likely to shrink by 10% over the sanctions and that oil revenue will tumble by a staggering 70% in the next fiscal year.
Iran's oil industry suffered a significant blow by India's decision in May to cut oil imports from its third-largest oil supplier.
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi severed his country's economic ties with Iran following Trump's decision to revoke India's special permit to import oil from Iran.
According to Iranian media reports, the ayatollahs' regime plans to cover its losses by imposing a 13% tax hike, which may spell the economy's demise.
Tehran further plans to sell government bonds worth about $27 billion, but given the freefall of the Iranian rial, they may only be worth $10 billion on the black market.
Rial rates, which have caused inflation to soar, also affect the Iranian state budget, which in 2020 is likely to come to only about $40 billion.
According to the report, the dire economic crisis may jeopardize the ayatollahs' regime, especially given the recent riots in the country, which have been the largest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
