Iran faces mounting financial pressure as US officials report $25 billion in lost oil revenue, $350 million in crypto frozen and militias sending funds back to the IRGC
Iran is facing mounting financial pressure after nine months of war, with a US naval blockade costing it $25 billion in lost oil revenue and $350 million in cryptocurrency frozen, according to US Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Adm Brad Cooper.
“The financial strain on Iran’s military has become so significant that there are reports about Iran-aligned militia groups across the region withholding payments for their soldiers in order to funnel money back to the IRGC, which also isn’t paying its troops,” Cooper said. In a video message released on Friday, Cooper said Iran-backed groups across the region, including Hezbollah, Hamas and Shia militias in Iraq, were sending money back to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which has funded them for years.
Cooper said CENTCOM and the US Treasury Department had also frozen $350 million in Iranian cryptocurrency in recent weeks. The naval blockade, meanwhile, had cost Tehran $25 billion in lost oil revenue, he said. Despite the attacks, the strategic waterway remains open, he said, with 400 ships and 100 million barrels of oil moving through it over the past week.
A US official said the proposal was still under consideration in Tehran. He added that the Iranian government was withholding salaries, pensions and benefits from public sector workers, including internal security personnel and members of the IRGC. The financial squeeze comes as the Trump administration maintains a naval blockade and sanctions on Iran, hoping to push Tehran towards a deal that includes concessions on its nuclear programme. However, Iran has yet to respond to a US counterproposal aimed at ending the war. Meanwhile, the White House and Qatari mediators are awaiting Tehran’s response to Washington’s counterproposal to end the war.