Following a decade of intensifying international isolation and sustained regional military engagements, the domestic economy has entered a phase of deep structural fragmentation.

This decline is most evident in the paralysis of its heavy industrial infrastructure. Mobarakeh Steel Company in Isfahan, the largest steel producer in the Middle East and a cornerstone of Iran’s non-oil industrial strategy, now operates far below capacity, hindered by targeted disruptions and an inability to procure specialized replacement components through conventional international supply chains.

This industrial stagnation has left tens of thousands of skilled manufacturing workers in financial uncertainty while triggering cascading failures throughout domestic supply networks, affecting sectors ranging from automotive manufacturing to civil infrastructure development.

The deterioration of industrial capacity is mirrored by the collapse of traditional artisan and agricultural sectors. The handwoven Persian carpet industry, historically a critical source of non-oil foreign currency revenue and rural employment, has effectively collapsed due to severed correspondent banking relationships, logistical blockades and restricted access to high-quality raw materials, reducing a once multi-billion-dollar sector to near obsolescence.

This industrial unraveling is occurring against a backdrop...

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