Trump says Iran's economy is collapsing. A former central bank adviser in Tehran pushes back

A man walks in front of a wall mural as daily life continues amid ongoing tensions between the United States in Tehran, Iran, on August 6, 2026. Fatemeh Bahrami | Anadolu | Getty ImagesA former adviser to Iran's central bank pushed back against U.S. President Donald Trump's claim that the country is on the brink of economic collapse, but warned that the United Arab Emirates' decision to sever trade ties could deepen Iran's contraction to about 5% this year."We should be a little bit cautious about the view that the Iranian economy is simply on the verge of collapse," Mehrdad Sepahvand, a former economic adviser to the Central Bank of Iran, told CNBC's Dan Murphy on "Access Middle East" on Thursday.His comments came hours after Trump vowed "economic warfare and isolation on an unprecedented scale" against Iran, declaring the regime is "hanging by a thread," following the collapse of ceasefire talks. The announcement extends a pressure campaign the Trump administration has waged since April under the banner Operation Economic Fury, aimed at cutting off what it terms the regime's global terror financing and revenue streams. Iran's gross domestic product is estimated to have contracted...