Iranian Officials

...the sanctions imposed against us are the most difficult in history.

Over the past three years, Iran's oil exports have declined by 1.5 mb/d [due to tough international sanctions] and it has inflicted more than $100 billion in losses on Iran.

For the first time since the imposed war [Iran's 1980s war with Iraq], our economic growth has been negative for two years in a row, and this is the first time that the negative growth is accompanied with high inflation -- the highest inflation in the region or perhaps in the world.

Some deny the effect of the sanctions in the first place and blame the government.

When have we ever been faced with such sanctions since the 1979 revolution? The situation was not even this difficult during the war [with Iraq in the 1980s]... We are faced with difficulties in repatriating our petrodollars due to the sanctions targeting our banking system.

I'm not saying that the sanctions have not caused any problems, but the government's mismanagement, which doesn't allow us to benefit from the country's huge capacity, is the main cause of the current situation.

Naturally the sanctions create a series of problems, including a slowdown in the country's growth, pressure on wide swathes of people who have a fixed income, disruption in foreign trade, and certainly a gap between classes.

[Over the past nine months], there has been a 40% decline in oil sales and a 45% decrease in repatriating oil earnings.

We are currently facing a financial drought. We will have a more difficult year ahead.

They (sanctions) may create problems. Mismanagement may even increase these problems.