Trump says Iran is ‘DEAD’ — experts point to the real sign Tehran is nearing the brink

close Video Iran economy ‘on the verge of collapse’ as tensions with US escalate Miad Maleki, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, tells Fox News Digital that mounting economic pressure could push Iran to escalate in an effort to force Washington back to the negotiating table. Photos credit: Reuters/Getty NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Hören Sie sich diesen Artikel an 6 Min President Donald Trump declared Iran a "Failed Nation" Monday, claiming the country is economically and militarily broken as renewed fighting with the U.S. raises questions about how much leverage Tehran still has left. "Iran is officially a Failed Nation. IT IS DEAD!" Trump wrote on Truth Social Monday morning. "They have no Navy, they have no Air Force, they have no currency, they are not paying their soldiers or police." Trump also claimed Iranian inflation had reached 300% and said the country's leadership was "in total disarray and incapable of properly representing the country." Iran is facing pressure from nearly every direction — renewed U.S. military strikes, tighter sanctions and a steep drop in oil exports — raising fresh questions about how long Tehran can keep absorbing the economic pain and still maintain leverage against Washington. COULD Iran’S REGIME COLLAPSE? EXPERTS ASSESS BESSENT’S BID TO SEVER FINANCIAL LIFELINES Ships are anchored in the Strait of Hormuz on August 10, 2026, off the coast of Bandar Abbas, Iran. (Ali Saeedi/Getty Images) Official Iranian data cited by Reuters put annual inflation at 66% in July, while the IMF projects average consumer-price inflation of 68.9% in 2026. Trump's post came amid the sharpest Iran-military-escalation" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="197883" data-entity-type="event">U.S.-Iran military escalation in weeks. U.S. forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island Sunday after Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz, according to a U.S. official. Iran retaliated by launching ballistic missiles toward U.S. bases in Jordan, while Jordan said it intercepted eight missiles that entered its airspace. The renewed confrontation comes as Washington ratchets up economic pressure. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Reuters Sunday that the administration expects to roll out additional secondary sanctions as frequently as every week, initially focusing on banks and potentially cutting financial institutions that continue facilitating Iranian transactions out of the U.S. dollar-based financial system. Iran’S DEEPEST WEAKNESS IS GETTING EXPOSED THROUGH AMERICA’S MAXIMUM PRESSURE CAMPAIGN An Iranian navy special forces service member, known as Takavaran, stands guard near the Iranian Kharg replenishment ship docked in the Red Sea Sudanese town of Port Sudan on Oct. 31, 2012. The visit of two Iranian naval ships to Sudan reflects strong ties between the countries, Sudan's military said after Khartoum denied Iranian involvement in weapons manufacturing. (Ashraf Shazly/AFP via Getty Images) Iran's own leaders are acknowledging growing economic strain. President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran's exports and imports have fallen nearly 35% because of U.S. sanctions and the naval blockade, while annual inflation reached 66% in July, Reuters reported Aug. 29. The IMF projects Iran's economy will contract 5.4% this year. Miad Maleki, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who previously served as associate director of Treasury's Office of Global Targeting at the Office of Foreign Assets Control, told Fox News Digital that the Islamic Republic may be nearing an economic breaking point. FDD says Maleki previously helped oversee U.S. sanctions programs and served as chief and senior sanctions coordinator for Iran and the Middle East. "I think where we stand today, it's very clear — we see very clear signs, indications of what I would call an economy that is on the verge of collapse, if it hasn't already collapsed yet," Maleki said. Maleki argued that the critical pressure point is Iran's ability to turn oil exports into usable revenue. US TARGETS CHINESE REFINERY IN SWEEPING Iran OIL CRACKDOWN, sanctions ‘SHADOW FLEET’ TANKERS Oil tankers and cargo ships line up in the Strait of Hormuz as seen from Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (Altaf Qadri/AP Photo) He estimates Tehran needs roughly 1 million barrels of oil exports per day to sustain itself, about 1.5 million to avoid hyperinflation and approximately 2 million to support development. Maleki said Iranian exports have fallen dramatically and Tehran is increasingly struggling to repatriate revenue from the oil it can sell. Kpler data cited by Reuters showed Chinese imports of Iranian crude falling from an average 1.4 million barrels per day in 2025 to a provisional 534,000 barrels per day so far in August. Maleki said Tehran is increasingly relying on money creation rather than cutting politically sensitive salaries and pensions. But there are limits. "They can keep printing money, but they can't really print the type of commodities that they need, such as gasoline, such as wheat," he said. The pressure, however, may create a dangerous paradox. Iran COULD UNLEASH ‘KINETIC’ RESPONSE AS US TIGHTENS ECONOMIC CONTAINMENT, ANALYST WARNS An Iranian woman shops in a local market in Tehran, Iran, April 28, 2026. (Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters) Iran analyst Danny Citrinowicz, a fellow at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies and a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative, told Fox News Digital that the maritime blockade, wartime losses and wider economic pressure are hurting Tehran, but argued Washington should not assume economic pain will lead to capitulation. Citrinowicz said continued pressure could instead increase Tehran's incentive to escalate if Iranian leaders conclude the status quo is worse than renewed confrontation. He said Iran could attempt to target "U.S. economic assets in the Gulf," ports or U.S. vessels involved in enforcing the blockade, even as its missile-production capabilities have been degraded. Maleki agreed Iran would likely attempt to escalate, but questioned how much leverage Tehran still possesses. "They're going to try to escalate," Maleki said, pointing to the attacks of the last 24 hours. But he argued that further escalation would increasingly affect Gulf states Iran has relied upon for trade, sanctions evasion and diplomacy — potentially bringing even greater economic and diplomatic pressure. MILLIONS OF BARRELS OF IRANIAN OIL SIT BEYOND TRUMP BLOCKADE AS HE VOWS ‘ZERO LEAKAGE’ People shop for produce at the historic Tajrish bazaar in northern Tehran on Aug. 25, 2026. (AFP via Getty Images) Asked whether Iran was losing its leverage, Maleki responded: "Absolutely." He argued Tehran has emerged weakened from internal unrest and the external war and is increasingly isolated domestically and internationally. What Maleki is watching next is not necessarily missed government payrolls, but shortages that could trigger another wave of domestic unrest. "What I'm looking for is shortages of items such as gasoline," Maleki said. "Right now they're fighting a war inside Iran that is way more challenging to the regime than it is from external forces that they're facing." Commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained severely disrupted Monday, while Brent crude climbed more than 2% to above $90 as markets reacted to the renewed U.S.-Iran exchanges. Reuters reported Aug. 31 that Gulf oil flows have recovered from their wartime lows but remain below pre-war levels. Maleki said he expects Iranians to return to the streets and argued Western governments should prepare now to help them communicate and organize if Tehran again shuts down internet access. "What we need to do is to contain this regime, cut off this economic lifeline, empower the Iranian people, be prepared next time Iranians are back on the street [and] take actions to stop this regime from slaughtering Iranians," Maleki said. The Iranian internet blackout started Jan.8 and cost $1.56 million per hour amid protests. (Maria / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images) "Those are the right policies — put the pressure on, be prepared to push back on the Iranian regime every time it escalates," he added. "At this point, they are the weakest they've been since 1979. Every time they try to escalate, they become weaker." Efrat (Effie) Lachter is a reporter for Fox News Digital with more than 15 years of experience covering conflict, global affairs, human rights and political accountability. She has directed and produced more than 200 documentary segments across more than 40 countries, documenting conflicts, humanitarian crises, corruption, human trafficking, gender-based violence and the human stories behind major world events. Lachter’s reporting has taken her into conflict zones and crisis areas across the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa. Her work has included uncovering human trafficking networks, revealing an ISIS underground torture prison in Syria, documenting the war in Ukraine and interviewing senior political figures and world leaders. She was also among the Western journalists who entered Russia after the war began to bring testimonies from Putin’s opposition. Lachter is the recipient of the 2022 Peres Center for Peace Award and was a 2023–2024 Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan. She also won two Rockower Awards for Excellence in Reporting. She holds a bachelor's degree in communication and a master's degree in political science.