U.S. Keeps Escalating Economic Pressure on Iran. Tehran Officials Now Warn of Gas Shortages as Winter Looms.

Iran might face natural gas shortages as the U.S. maintains economic pressure on the country, a top official said.

First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref called on residents to conserve the resource, noting that he had to be honest about the stability of the supply as winter looms.

He went on to say that the current situation is a result of "imbalances accumulated over previous years and war-related damages," noting that prices will increase for those who continue using natural gas in the same way they used to.

The Treasury Department claimed in a recent report that pressure is achieving its goals. Citing a department report, Axios noted that Secretary Scott Bessent is calling on President Donald Trump to maintain course rather than return to a full-fledged military conflict.

"Bessent is telling the President the economic pressure campaign is working and that things are getting worse in Iran and that this could further destabilize the regime and push the Supreme Leader to agree to a deal," an official told the outlet.

To back up the claim, the report notes that the Iranian currency, the rial, has lost about a quarter of its value since the campaign began in August. Moreover, annual inflation reached 90% last month, compared to 35% in early 2025. As for oil exports, Iran has not managed to load tankers since late August and has already sold what it had at sea.

Iran has had to reroute trade overland and is facing bottlenecks in its border with Pakistan, Turkey, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. Some trucks are facing delays of up to 20 days in Turkey, the repot claims.

Bessent said in October that the Iranian economy will shrink by more than 25%. Speaking to Iran International, Bessent said the country is short on foreign currency and oil production is falling. "I would predict that from March of '26 until March of '27, the economy would contract more than 25 percent, which is more than the Soviet Union contracted after its collapse," he said.

He went on to say that Iranians should "start stocking up on heating fuel" as there will be a "big heating fuel shortage."

"My advice to the Iranian people would be: don't pay your taxes because you're not going to get anything back from the government," he added.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said last month that the Islamic Regime is facing the most severe crisis since the 1979 revolution.

"Never in the 48 years since the Islamic Revolution have we been under such pressure and faced such difficulties," Pezeshkian said when talking in a forum in Azerbaijan, of which he took part virtually.