Foreign media: US Treasury Secretary Bessenet admitted that the US deliberately created a shortage of US dollars in Iran, causing the Iranian currency to plummet and triggering mass protests.
From December 2025 to January 2026, Iran experienced the largest anti-government protests since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, triggered by a severe economic crisis. The US restricted Iran's foreign exchange inflows by sanctioning its oil exports and cutting off international banking channels, leading to a sharp decline in the Iranian rial's exchange rate in January 2026, reaching 150 million rials per US dollar, with food prices rising by 72% year-on-year.
The US move aims to force Iran to renegotiate its nuclear program and regional policies through economic means, but experts believe that economic sanctions usually fail to overthrow a regime, instead making Iranians more focused on daily survival rather than driving a revolution.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1857004833749192/
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