Iranian leaders have acknowledged mounting economic damage from the six-month war with the United States, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei urging the government to address inflation, unemployment and market pressures. President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iranian exports and imports had fallen nearly 35% because of U.S. sanctions and a naval blockade of Iranian ports, while annual inflation reached 66% last month. Washington has escalated what President Donald Trump’s administration calls an “economic D-Day,” warning countries to end business ties with Iran or face secondary sanctions (penalties on third parties). The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Egypt’s Banque Misr over business with Tehran and proposed restricting its United Arab Emirates branches from dollar transactions, while also targeting a Hong Kong entity and a person linked to Iran’s Bank Melli. Diplomatic efforts continue, with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani visiting Tehran and discussing a return to open shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s foreign minister called the talks “creative,” but the waterway remains contested: U.S. commanders said American forces cleared Iranian-laid mines, while the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ navy said the strait remained closed without Iranian permission. Seven commodity vessels crossed on Thursday, down from 17 a day earlier and below the 10-day average of 15.