Iran central bank chief calls U.S. predictions of economic collapse an “illusion” and says imports can be sustained beyond Trump’s term

Abdolnaser Hemmati, governor of Iran’s Central Bank, dismissed U.S. predictions of an economic collapse and said Iran could sustain its imports beyond U.S. President Donald Trump’s term. He made the remarks in a Telegram post on Friday after a televised Bloomberg interview on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Hemmati said the United States had promised Iran’s economy would collapse within two weeks through its “Operation Economic Outcast” campaign and tightened blockades. Washington had failed to achieve that main objective, he said, despite putting heavy economic pressure on the Iranian people.

He described Iran’s foreign reserves as being in good condition and said the country could supply its imports until the end of Trump’s term and beyond. Inflation, which had risen sharply after the 40-day U.S.-Israeli war, moderated in the three months leading up to September, Hemmati said. He identified a supply shock in the real sector—caused by damage to infrastructure and two industrial facilities—as a primary driver of the spring inflation surge, adding that both facilities had resumed production.

On declining oil revenues, Hemmati said oil income did not make up a major share of the government budget. The government, he said, was determined to cover its deficit through other sources denominated in rials, including asset sales, energy-sector reforms and petroleum-product exports.

Hemmati also said the decline in public purchasing power needed to be offset with subsidized commodity vouchers and gradual increases in their rial value for low-income households. The post described the United States and Israel as having waged a war of aggression against Iran beginning on February 28, and said they were forced to accept a ceasefire on April 8, 40 days later, amid Iran’s resistance.