![A man holds the Iranian toman equivalent of 1 USD as US dollar’s selling rate on the free market reaches an all-time high, hitting the 200,000 toman mark in Tehran, Iran on August 24, 2026. [Fatemeh Bahrami - Anadolu Agency]](https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/AA-20260824-42294295-42294290-FREE_MARKET_REACHES_AN_ALLTIME_HIGH_IN_IRAN-1.jpg)
On 24 August, the Trump administration launched an operation called “Economic Outcast”, describing it as the largest economic offensive ever undertaken against Iran’s financial links around the world, aimed at cutting off every potential source of revenue that funds the country, and as more forceful than any such campaign the United States has previously launched against its adversaries. This operation threatens any party dealing with the Iranian regime with direct confrontation with the United States. Washington is returning to the use of an economic blockade against Iran after failing to achieve the outcomes it sought from the war it launched against the country. The blockade was tested during Donald Trump’s first term and inflicted damage on Iran, but failed to […]
