WRAPUP 3-War weighs on Iran's economy as US intensifies sanctions

Iranian leaders are acknowledging the economic ‌toll ​of war with the U.S., with the supreme leader urging the government to address the hardship and the president saying foreign trade has shrunk by a third due to the American sanctions and blockade. Yet Tehran signalled no retreat on Saturday, vowing to withstand U.S. pressure, pursue diplomacy and maintain what it said was control over the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway ‌giving Iran leverage through its ability to disrupt global energy markets.

The government said in a statement on state media that addressing economic pressures caused by sanctions and war was a central focus, including curbing inflation, managing markets, creating jobs, directing investment towards domestic production and gradually reducing dependence on the dollar. Six months after the U.S. and Israel launched the war, negotiations are at an impasse and President Donald Trump's administration has stepped up efforts to punish Iran financially with what it has billed as an "economic D-Day".

SANCTIONS COMPOUND ‌TOLL ON IRAN'S ECONOMY Washington has warned countries to cut business ties with Iran or face secondary sanctions, though the Treasury Department stopped short of imposing penalties against major Iranian trade partners such as China and India, which could have repercussions for ‌the U.S. and global economies.

The Treasury imposed sanctions on Egypt's Banque Misr for doing business with Tehran, proposing a rule that would cut off the bank's branches in the United Arab Emirates from dollar transactions. Egypt's central bank said it and the foreign ministry were in contact with U.S. officials concerning the matter, adding the measure was limited to Banque Misr UAE’s U.S. dollar transactions with correspondent banks only.

Banque Misr said later in a statement it was reviewing the U.S. Treasury notice, adding that its branch in the UAE continued to provide banking services to its customers in line with applicable rules and ⁠procedures. The U.S. also ​issued sanctions targeting an entity based in Hong Kong and a ⁠person linked to Iran's Bank Melli, according to a notice on the Treasury website.

The sanctions drive compounds the toll of the war on Iran's economy, where annual inflation hit 66% last month. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei — who has not been seen publicly since he was injured in the initial ⁠February 28 attack that killed his father and former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — called on the government to tackle the economic hardship.

"There is the need to seriously address the chain of economic and livelihood challenges, such as inflation, unemployment, management of prices and the market for goods ​and services," according to a written statement attributed to Khamenei. President Masoud Pezeshkian told state media that Iranian exports and imports had slumped nearly 35% because of U.S. sanctions and a naval blockade of Iranian ports.

But he said Iran ⁠was able to sell about 90 million barrels of oil during the short-lived memorandum of understanding that the U.S. and Iran signed in June, when Washington permitted Iranian oil sales. IRAN VOWS TO PURSUE DIPLOMACY AND DEFENCE

With the U.S. focused on its economic pressure campaign, others have sought to revive diplomatic efforts to end ⁠the ​war. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met with Iranian leaders in Tehran on Thursday. He said he had stressed during the meeting the importance of returning to the pre-war status of open shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi on Friday described the talks with Al Thani as "creative". In Saturday's statement, Iran said diplomacy and defence were "two complementary, coordinated and inseparable wings" for protecting the country's national interests, security and territorial integrity. It said it would pursue both ⁠tracks in a balanced manner.

Qatar, a U.S. ally and Gulf neighbour to Iran, and Pakistan helped broker the June memorandum of understanding that led to a brief ceasefire before disagreements over the vital strait caused it to unravel. Before the ⁠war, the waterway carried 20% of the world's oil and LNG. U.S. military ⁠commanders say American forces have cleared sea mines from the strait that had been laid months ago by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Trump has repeatedly said the Strait of Hormuz is open, but the Revolutionary Guards' navy said in a statement that such claims "are an obvious lie", reiterating that the waterway remained closed to ships without Iranian permission. Only seven commodity vessels ‌transited the strait on Thursday, down from ‌17 a day earlier and below the 10-day average of 15, preliminary shipping data showed on Friday.