Seven months into the original blockade, The Telegraph spoke with ordinary Iranians as well as officials, clerics and analysts across the country.They described a nation ground down by the economic siege, with a currency in freefall.
Even within the Islamic Republic, the strain is showing.
Generals and clerics admitted a fear that the government supporters filling the streets and calling for revenge could be pushing the system towards collapse – and that it may not survive the pressure with a supreme leader who has all but vanished from view.
Iranian officials and clerics who spoke with The Telegraph argued privately that there must be talks with the Americans, unsure whether Mr Trump is simply waiting for the economy to break.
And they voiced an anxiety rarely spoken aloud that the Islamic Republic may not weather the strain with a supreme leader who has remained almost entirely out of view.
"It is clear Trump is playing the longer game now, waiting for the system to reach a point where it is forced to give concessions," one analyst in Tehran said.
By
krom ·
