Iran’s Economic Breakdown Cannot Be Explained Away by War

Iran’s Economy Was Already in Crisis Before the Conflict, Now It’s Worse

Iran's economy entered 2026 already in structural collapse, and the February 28 war has since accelerated every negative trend simultaneously.

Iran’s Economic Breakdown Cannot Be Explained Away by War

The country’s deepening hardship reflects long-standing structural failures, now intensified but not caused by recent conflict. When Iran’s regime president Masoud Pezeshkian addressed Iran’s Central Bank on April 17, he pointed to “wartime conditions” as a primary driver of the country’s worsening economic situation, while asserting that stability in key monetary and currency markets had been maintained. This narrative, however, fails to accoun…