前埃文监狱囚犯称，伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队通过控制伊朗黑市渠道从制裁中牟利
2026年8月10日 美国东部时间下午2:45 / 福克斯新闻
作者：埃弗拉特·拉赫特，福克斯新闻
前伊朗在押人员称，制裁为伊朗政权权力掮客打造了“庞大商业帝国”
前伊朗在押人员莫拉德·塔巴兹表示，制裁已将伊朗贸易推入不透明渠道，不仅伤害普通伊朗民众，更让那些掌控资金和货物流通渠道的人获利颇丰。
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唐纳德·特朗普总统目前暗示，他准备让针对伊朗不断升级的经济压力发挥更大作用，而非立即扩大对德黑兰的军事行动。
“我们只是和他们进行半吊子谈判。我们只是在旁观伊朗遭遇严重通胀、财政枯竭的现状，”特朗普周日在接受Axios记者巴拉克·拉维德电话采访时表示。Axios8月9日报道称，特朗普将美国的对伊策略描述为“低调处理”，并表示伊朗正处于严重的经济困境之中，难以支付军队军费。
特朗普此前称，美国对霍尔木兹海峡的海军封锁加剧了伊朗的财政危机。这番言论发表之前，美国政府数周来反复提及恢复大规模军事行动的可能性。
但随着政府越来越多地将伊朗的经济困境作为施压筹码，一个更复杂的问题逐渐浮现：伊朗的经济危机有多少源于美国制裁、战争和封锁，又有多少源于伊朗伊斯兰共和国数十年来的腐败、经济管理不善以及自身的开支决策？
美国的“最大施压”运动正暴露伊朗最致命的弱点
2026年4月28日，伊朗女性在德黑兰当地市场购物。（马吉德·阿斯加里普尔/西亚新闻社 路透社供片）
特朗普周日在Truth Social平台上重申了这一立场，他写道伊朗已经表现出“51年的恶劣行径”，并附上一张显示伊朗里亚尔大幅贬值的图表。该图表标题为“伊朗一文不名”，并称该国货币“形同废纸”。
经济压力在普通伊朗民众的日常生活中日益显现。伊朗报纸《艺术世界》上周发布的一项调查显示，超市员工遭遇过顾客偷窃面包、奶酪和肉类等基本日用品的情况，或是因为无力购买，直接在店内食用包装食品。这些描述生动展现了随着物价上涨、购买力下滑，伊朗家庭所承受的沉重压力。
与此同时，美国加大了针对伊朗收入来源的打击力度。根据财政部所谓的“经济暴怒”行动，美国政府将目标对准了伊朗的石油贸易、影子银行网络、武器采购行动、加密货币资产以及规避制裁的基础设施。财政部6月10日表示，该行动已阻止伊朗政权及其代理武装获得“数百亿美元”收入。7月29日，财政部称外国资产控制办公室（OFAC）自2026年初以来已制裁了100多艘与伊朗“影子舰队”相关的船只。
一位财政部发言人在不具名情况下对福克斯新闻数字频道表示：“‘经济暴怒’行动已让伊朗政权陷入现金短缺的绝境。”
“伊朗经济自由落体式下滑，通胀飙升，正如特朗普总统周日所言，该政权支付军队军费的能力已被严重削弱，”该发言人表示。
艾哈迈德·瓦希迪是谁？与全球袭击和“去死美国”意识形态绑定的伊朗新任革命卫队司令
2025年12月30日，一名行人走过德黑兰的货币兑换点招牌，伊朗里亚尔汇率持续走低。（马吉德·阿斯加里普尔/西亚新闻社 路透社供片）
一位美国官员在不具名情况下对福克斯新闻数字频道表示，美国政府仍将经济施压作为整体战略的一部分。
“特朗普总统始终明确表示，他绝不会允许伊朗拥有核武器。尽管他一直坚持更倾向于外交解决方案，但如果伊朗继续从事恐怖主义活动并拒绝达成协议，他将保留所有应对选项，”该官员称。
“美国正以历史上最成功的海军封锁之一扼杀伊朗仅剩的经济命脉——伊朗若明智，就该坐下来谈判。否则，他们清楚会发生什么。”
米阿德·马莱基是国防民主基金会高级研究员，也是前财政部制裁官员。他表示施压行动加速了伊朗的经济衰退，但同时指出德黑兰自身的政策才是诸多根本性脆弱性的根源。
“制裁和战争确实加速了伊朗的经济衰退，但二者都是该政权自身滋事的后果：其核冒险主义、针对油轮的导弹和无人机袭击，以及对恐怖代理武装的支持，而非强加于无辜旁观者的外部因素，”马莱基对福克斯新闻数字频道表示。
“政府的基本职责是保障国民、服务国民——但该政权反而推行了彻底失败的革命意识形态，除了给普通伊朗民众带来苦难之外一无所成，”他补充道。
马莱基表示，更深层的问题可追溯至数十年间，他指出即便在制裁缓解、石油收入增加之时，伊朗仍将大量资源投入到安全机构和伊斯兰革命卫队之中。
伊朗革命卫队扩大军事掌控，挤压总统权力空间
2026年7月6日，伊朗民众在德黑兰参加已故最高领袖阿亚图拉·阿里·哈梅内伊及其家属的葬礼，一名伊斯兰革命卫队武装人员在现场警戒。（莫尔塔扎·尼库巴兹/努尔斯照片 盖蒂图片社供片）
根据马莱基提供给福克斯新闻数字频道的伊朗央行国民账户数据，伊朗军事开支占政府总开支的比例从1993年的16%升至2006年的52%，而教育开支则从27%降至15%。他表示，医疗和社会事务开支占政府支出的比例也出现下滑。
马莱基以2020年预算为例说明了这种失衡。据美国和平研究所《伊朗入门》基于伊朗议会研究中心数据发布的分析，伊朗革命卫队获得约69.6亿美元拨款，而规模更大的常规军队“阿尔蒂什”仅获得27.3亿美元，前者拨款是后者的约2.5倍。
“问题并不只是伊朗在国防上开支巨大，”马莱基说。“关键在于，这个依赖石油的经济体不断将巨额资源投向军方和革命卫队，而基本公共服务和普通家庭却承受着越来越大的压力。”
官方预算仅反映了部分开支情况。马莱基结合自己在财政部的工作经历和外部研究指出，革命卫队还获得了大量商业和预算外资源。美国企业研究所2017年的一项研究估计，革命卫队所谓的“灰色预算”可能会使军事开支再增加50%至100%。
2024年4月29日，伊朗革命卫队快艇在波斯湾航行，参加在布什尔核电站附近举行的纪念波斯湾国家日的海上阅兵。（莫尔塔扎·尼库巴兹/努尔斯照片 盖蒂图片社供片）
“归根结底，责任不在于外部施压，而在于结构性腐败、长期经济管理不善，以及根本脱离普通伊朗民众需求和国家真实经济潜力的开支优先级，”马莱基说道。
革命卫队的影响力远超军事开支领域。其还建立了庞大的经济体系，掌控着主要收入来源，批评人士认为，这使得该机构特别能从制裁催生的不透明渠道中获利。
其经济分支“哈塔姆·安比耶亚建筑总部”在两伊战争后成为伊朗经济的重要力量，并在建筑、能源和基础设施领域不断扩张。财政部2007年10月将该机构列入制裁名单，称其为革命卫队的工程部门，用于创收并为该组织的行动提供资金。
财政部承认，伊朗正越来越多地转向不透明的金融渠道以规避美国压力，但辩称这些网络本身也已成为此次行动的打击目标。
“该政权正越来越多地不得不通过影子银行网络，包括利用加密货币，发明新方式来规避美国制裁，”财政部发言人表示。“财政部将持续监控并果断摧毁这些网络，确保伊朗无法维持其恐怖主义和地区破坏行动。”
8月7日，美国财政部宣布单独行动，制裁被指用于资助革命卫队的加密货币交易所，以及被指为伊朗转移数亿美元资金的国际货币网络。
获释美国人披露伊朗监狱残酷经历，警告人质面临更大危险
2026年4月28日，民众在德黑兰当地市场行走。（马吉德·阿斯加里普尔/西亚新闻社 路透社供片）
莫拉德·塔巴兹是一位伊朗裔美国环保主义者，2023年9月与其他四名美国人获释前，他在伊朗埃文监狱被关押了近六年。他表示，制裁实际上为那些掌控资金和货物流通渠道的人打造了利润丰厚的“商业帝国”。
“他们借助这些制裁为自己建立了一个庞大的商业帝国，”塔巴兹对福克斯新闻数字频道表示。“由于制裁，资金无法自由流入伊朗政府国库。于是，一切都变成了黑市、灰市，从石油到其他各类进出口货物都成了非法走私。”
“当然，受这一切伤害最深的是伊朗人民，”他补充道。“不幸的是，他们在日常生活中承受了所有这些冲击的主要压力。”
塔巴兹表示，与革命卫队绑定的经济体系本身可能会让对抗结束的进程更加复杂，因为那些从受限金融渠道获利的人有动机维持现状。
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2026年4月28日，民众在德黑兰当地市场购物。（马吉德·阿斯加里普尔/西亚新闻社 路透社供片）
“他们不希望制裁取消，因为那样他们就会失去这个商业帝国，”他说。“他们会失去权力，失去对资金以及相关一切事物的控制。”
塔巴兹表示，制裁催生的经济利益也有助于解释伊朗国内的一些紧张局势。
“这就是伊朗内部正在发生的斗争，当你听说各派系之间存在紧张关系时，”他说。“我认为，要找到这场‘战争’的解决方案，我们必须关注伊朗国内正在发生的事情，”他说道。
财政部表示，其一直保留相关授权以限制制裁对普通伊朗民众的影响，包括涉及农产品、药品和医疗设备的特定人道主义贸易；非商业性个人汇款；以及通信相关的软件、硬件和服务。该发言人表示，外国资产控制办公室还会逐案考虑额外申请。这些授权包含在OFAC条例和通用许可8A中。
埃弗拉特（埃菲）·拉赫特是福克斯新闻数字频道的记者，拥有超过15年报道冲突、全球事务、人权和政治问责的经验。她制作并执导了200多段纪录片片段，足迹遍布40多个国家，记录冲突、人道主义危机、腐败、人口贩运、基于性别的暴力以及重大国际事件背后的人物故事。
拉赫特的报道将她带入中东、欧洲、亚洲和非洲的冲突地带和危机区域。她的报道包括揭露人口贩运网络、曝光叙利亚境内的伊斯兰国地下酷刑监狱、记录乌克兰战争，以及采访高级政治人物和世界各国领导人。她也是战争开始后进入俄罗斯的西方记者之一，带回了普京反对派的证词。拉赫特曾获得2022年佩雷斯和平中心和平奖，2023-2024年密歇根大学奈特-华莱士新闻奖学金得主，还曾两次获得洛克沃尔优秀报道奖。她拥有传播学学士学位和政治学硕士学位。
Trump bets economic pressure can squeeze Iran as regime’s own failures deepen the pain
IRGC profits from sanctions by controlling Iran’s black market channels, former Evin prisoner says
August 10, 2026 2:45pm EDT / Fox News
By Efrat Lachter, Fox News
Former Iran detainee says sanctions created ‘huge franchise’ for regime power brokers
Former Iran detainee Morad Tahbaz says sanctions have pushed Iranian trade into opaque channels, hurting ordinary Iranians while enriching those who control the flow of money and goods.
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President Donald Trump is signaling, at least for now, he is prepared to let mounting economic pressure on Iran do more of the work rather than immediately expand military action against Tehran.
“We are only semi-negotiating with them. We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money,” Trump told Axios’ Barak Ravid in a phone interview Sunday. Axios reported Aug. 9 that Trump described the U.S. approach as “low-keying it” and said Iran was in severe economic distress and struggling to pay its troops.
Trump has argued that the U.S. naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz has compounded Iran’s financial crisis. His comments come after weeks in which the administration repeatedly raised the possibility of renewed large-scale military action.
But as the administration increasingly points to Iran’s financial distress as leverage, a more complicated question is emerging: How much of Iran’s economic crisis is the result of U.S. sanctions, the war and blockade — and how much stems from decades of corruption, economic mismanagement and spending decisions by the Islamic Republic itself?
IRAN’S DEEPEST WEAKNESS IS GETTING EXPOSED THROUGH AMERICA’S MAXIMUM PRESSURE CAMPAIGN
An Iranian woman shops in a local market in Tehran, Iran, April 28, 2026.(Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)
Trump reinforced the message on Truth Social Sunday, writing that Iran had shown “51 years of bad behaviour” while sharing a graphic depicting the Iranian rial’s steep decline. The graphic was titled “Iran has NO MONEY” and described the currency as “trash.”
The economic pressure is increasingly visible in the daily lives of ordinary Iranians. An investigation published by the Iranian newspaper Jahan-e Sanat last week described supermarket workers encountering customers who allegedly shoplifted basic groceries including bread, cheese and meat, or ate packaged food inside stores because they could no longer afford it. The accounts offered a stark glimpse of the strain on Iranian households as prices rise and purchasing power erodes.
Washington, meanwhile, has intensified its campaign against Tehran’s revenue streams. Under what the Treasury Department calls Economic Fury, the administration has targeted Iran’s oil trade, shadow banking networks, weapons procurement operations, cryptocurrency holdings and sanctions-evasion infrastructure. Treasury said June 10 that the campaign had prevented “tens of billions of dollars” in revenue from being accessible to the Iranian regime and its proxies. On July 29, Treasury said OFAC had sanctioned more than 100 vessels linked to Iran’s shadow fleet since the beginning of 2026.
A Treasury spokesperson told Fox News Digital on background that “Economic Fury has left the regime desperate for cash.”
“Iran’s economy is in freefall, inflation has skyrocketed, and as President Trump said on Sunday, the regime’s ability to pay its troops has been decimated,” the spokesperson said.
WHO IS AHMAD VAHIDI? IRAN’S NEW IRGC CHIEF TIED TO GLOBAL ATTACKS AND ‘DEATH TO AMERICA’ IDEOLOGY
A person walks past a sign at a currency exchange, as the value of the Iranian Rial drops, in Tehran, Iran, December 30, 2025.(Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)
A U.S. official told Fox News Digital on background that the administration still views economic pressure as one part of a broader strategy.
“President Trump has always been clear that he will never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. While he has been consistent in saying he prefers a diplomatic solution, he continues to retain all options if Iran continues to engage in terrorism and refuses to make a deal,” the official said.
“The United States is strangling what’s left of Iran’s economy with one of the most successful naval blockades in history – and Iran would be wise to make a deal. Otherwise, they know what will happen.”
Miad Maleki, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and former Treasury Department sanctions official, said the pressure has accelerated Iran’s economic decline, but argued that Tehran’s own policies created many of the underlying vulnerabilities.
“Sanctions and the war have accelerated Iran’s economic decline, but both are consequences of the regime’s own troublemaking; its nuclear brinkmanship, missile and drone attacks on tankers, and support for terror proxies, not causes imposed on an innocent bystander,” Maleki told Fox News Digital.
“It’s a government’s basic responsibility to provide for and serve its nation — this regime has instead served a failed revolutionary ideology that has produced nothing but suffering for ordinary Iranians,” he added.
Maleki said the deeper story can be seen over decades, arguing that even when sanctions eased and oil revenues increased, Iran continued directing significant resources toward its security establishment and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
IRAN’S REVOLUTIONARY GUARD SIDELINES PRESIDENT AS MILITARY GRIP EXPANDS
An armed member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) monitors the area while mourners participate in the funeral for the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his family in Tehran, Iran, on July 6, 2026.(Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
According to Central Bank of Iran national accounts data provided by Maleki to Fox News Digital, Iran’s military share of total government spending rose from 16% in 1993 to 52% by 2006, while education spending fell from 27% to 15%. Spending on health and social affairs also declined as a share of government expenditures, he said.
Maleki pointed to the 2020 budget as another example of the disparity. The IRGC received approximately $6.96 billion, compared with $2.73 billion for Iran’s larger conventional military, known as the Artesh — roughly 2.5 times as much, according to an analysis published by the United States Institute of Peace’s Iran Primer based on figures from Iran’s parliamentary research center.
“The issue is not simply that Iran spends heavily on defense,” Maleki said. “It is that an oil-dependent economy repeatedly directed enormous resources toward the military and the IRGC while basic public services and ordinary households were under increasing pressure.”
And the official budget captures only part of that spending. Maleki, citing both his experience at the Treasury Department and outside research, said the IRGC benefits from significant commercial and off-budget resources. A 2017 American Enterprise Institute study estimated that the IRGC’s so-called “gray budget” could add another 50% to 100% to its military outlays.
An Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps speedboat sails in the Persian Gulf during an IRGC marine parade marking Persian Gulf National Day near the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Bushehr, Iran, on April 29, 2024.(Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“Ultimately, the responsibility lies not with external pressure but with structural corruption, chronic economic mismanagement, and spending priorities fundamentally detached from ordinary Iranians’ needs and the country’s genuine economic potential,” Maleki said.
That influence extends far beyond military spending. The IRGC has also built a sprawling economic apparatus that gives it control over major sources of revenue and, critics argue, leaves it particularly well positioned to profit from the opaque channels sanctions create.
Its economic arm, Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters, became a major force in the Iranian economy after the Iran-Iraq War and expanded across construction, energy and infrastructure. The Treasury Department designated Khatam al-Anbiya in October 2007, describing it as an IRGC engineering arm used to generate income and fund the organization’s operations.
Treasury acknowledged that Iran is increasingly turning to opaque financial channels to circumvent U.S. pressure, but argued that those networks are themselves becoming targets of the campaign.
“The regime is increasingly having to invent new ways to try to evade U.S. sanctions through shadow banking networks, including through exploiting crypto,” the Treasury spokesperson said. “Treasury continues to monitor and aggressively dismantle these networks to ensure Iran cannot sustain its campaign of terror and regional destabilization.”
On Aug. 7, Treasury announced separate actions against cryptocurrency exchanges it said were being used to finance the IRGC and against international currency networks that it said were moving hundreds of millions of dollars for Iran.
FREED AMERICAN REVEALS BRUTAL IRAN PRISON ORDEAL, WARNS HOSTAGES FACE GREATER DANGER
People walk in a local market in Tehran, Iran, April 28, 2026.(Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)
Morad Tahbaz, an Iranian-American conservationist who spent nearly six years imprisoned in Iran’s Evin Prison before being released with four other Americans in September 2023, said sanctions have effectively created what he described as a lucrative “franchise” for those controlling the channels through which money and goods move.
“They have created a huge franchise for themselves because of these sanctions,” Tahbaz told Fox News Digital. “Money can’t flow freely to the Iranian government’s treasury because of the sanctions. So what happens, everything is like a black market, gray market, illegal smuggling from the oil to everything else coming in and out.”
“And of course, the people who are hurt most by all of this are the people of Iran,” he added. “They’re unfortunately, very unfortunately, taking the brunt of all of these in their daily lives.”
Tahbaz said the entrenchment of the IRGC-linked economy may itself complicate efforts to end the confrontation because those profiting from restricted financial channels have an incentive to preserve them.
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People shop in a local market in Tehran, Iran, April 28, 2026.(Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)
“They don’t want to see the sanctions go away, because they will lose their franchise, if you will,” he said. “They will lose their power, their control over the money and everything that goes along with it.”
Tahbaz said the economic interests created by the sanctions also help explain some of the internal tensions within Iran.
“This is the battle going on inside Iran when you hear there is tension within factions,” he said. “And I think to see a solution to this war, if you will, we have to look to what’s happening in Iran,” he said.
Treasury said it maintains standing authorizations intended to limit sanctions’ effects on ordinary Iranians, including certain humanitarian trade involving agricultural products, medicine and medical devices; noncommercial personal remittances; and communications-related software, hardware and services. OFAC also considers additional requests on a case-by-case basis, the spokesperson said. The authorizations are contained in OFAC regulations and General License 8A.
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.