2026-10-15T12:52:12+00:00
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Shafaq News- Tehran
Iran is facing its most severe
challenges since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, President Masoud Pezeshkian
acknowledged on Thursday, accusing the country’s adversaries of seeking to
destabilize it through military attacks and disruptions to essential supplies.
Addressing a meeting of East
Azerbaijan Province’s Planning and Development Council via video link,
Pezeshkian said Iran had not experienced such intense pressure in the 48 years
since the revolution, arguing that the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei and several senior military commanders and officials in joint
US-Israeli strikes on Tehran on Feb. 28 had failed to trigger the widespread
instability anticipated by Iran’s adversaries.
Pezeshkian accused Iran’s
opponents of attempting to block supply routes and restrict access to essential
goods while targeting gas facilities, power plants, and factories to deepen
economic hardship. “The enemy thought that these attacks would cause famine,”
he said, crediting businesses, manufacturers, industrial workers, and
government officials with preventing broader disruptions.
He also praised Iran’s armed
forces for their response to the attacks.
Iran remains under a US naval
blockade, which Washington reinstated in July after a ceasefire reached in June
collapsed the following month. By Oct. 9, US Central Command (CENTCOM) had
redirected 133 commercial vessels as part of its enforcement operations, while
shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remained sharply reduced.
The restrictions have also
affected Iranian oil exports. Energy analytics firm Vortexa reported on Tuesday
that Iran’s seaborne crude shipments fell to zero in the second week of
September and remained at that level through Oct. 5. Approximately 83 million
barrels of Iranian crude were still aboard tankers, including 43 million
stranded west of the Strait of Hormuz, while liquefied petroleum gas exports
dropped 48% month-on-month to their lowest level since at least January 2023.
Maritime tensions have also
escalated, with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warning
shipping companies last week against complying with US instructions and
threatening vessels using routes Tehran considers unauthorized.
Security data released on
Wednesday showed that at least 10 vessels had come under attack in or near the
Strait of Hormuz since Sunday, bringing the number of reported incidents in the
first half of October to 23.