Iran’s ability to export crude at scale through the Strait of Hormuz has been severely disrupted for approximately seven weeks by a U.S. naval blockade and intensified sanctions, according to three senior Iranian government officials. Kpler data show Iranian crude loadings fell nearly 85% this month to approximately 260,000 barrels per day, from roughly 1.7 million barrels per day in the same period last year. Shipments to China, previously regarded as Iran’s last major crude buyer, have stopped completely. Remaining exports are moving through trucks, rail and small vessels in the Caspian Sea after terminal shipments dwindled. Expanded secondary sanctions (penalties targeting third-country trade) have raised the cost of Iran’s long-running sanctions-evasion network, including shell companies, unregistered tankers and smuggling operations, while restricting dollar transactions used for oil sales and critical imports. Domestic pressure is also intensifying: average inflation over the past 12 months reached 69.9%, food, beverage and tobacco prices rose at roughly twice that rate, unemployment reached 9.1% in the spring, and employment fell by approximately 450,000 year over year as labor-force participation declined. The Iranian rial reached a record low of 2.1 million per dollar in the parallel market. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), a global financial institution, projects inflation of approximately 70% this year, the world’s third-highest rate after Venezuela and Sudan. Officials described the loss of access to international financial networks as a real and imminent threat, while falling foreign-currency reserves are limiting Iran’s ability to pay sanctions-evasion premiums or procure goods. The resulting decline in export revenue is forcing the government to finance fiscal spending through money printing, risking still faster inflation. During the six-month-long conflict, the United States has not extracted concrete concessions from Iran; the blockade and sanctions are instead being used to strengthen Washington’s leverage in future negotiations and narrow Tehran’s room to maneuver.