Above photo: AFP via Getty Images.
Dollar phase-out and domestic self-sufficiency.
The Iranian supreme leader advocates domestic manufacturing as a solution for economic resilience amid Washington’s economic strangulation campaign.
In a statement issued on 29 August, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian committed to the economic and political course laid out by Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, placing inflation, employment, and reducing the country’s reliance on the US dollar at the center of the country’s agenda.
Pezeshkian’s statement came in response to Khamenei’s Government Week message, which emphasized investing in domestic production and markets under national control. He highlighted the Leader’s confidence in the government as its greatest asset.
The Iranian government named national unity an absolute priority, saying every major political, economic, social, and cultural decision would be weighed for its effect on cohesion and calling the avoidance of artificial polarization a duty.
Khamenei’s 28 August message urged Iran to prioritize domestic manufacturing to combat inflation and economic strain and to start reducing dollar use in transactions.
He added that where the country cannot supply itself through domestic production, imports should fill the gap, but only when used “properly and with sound judgment.”
He credited the government with maintaining supplies, restoring infrastructure, and managing energy during war, sanctions, and blockade, acknowledging the enemy’s impact.
The message came after Washington launched a new campaign of economic strangulation against Iran, dubbed “Operation Economic Outcast,” following its failed war of aggression.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed the sanctions campaign as a diversion from record US debt and rising interest costs, warning that repeating failed policies would bring Washington only further defeat and deepen Iranian resolve.
US President Donald Trump had declared economic warfare against Iran on an unprecedented scale, threatening heavy penalties on any government or institution helping Tehran evade US sanctions, particularly by moving money or oil.
