Iran is feeling the bite from economic sanctions imposed over its nuclear program, which is capable of producing a weapon although Iranian leaders have not yet decided to do so, top intelligence chiefs told Congress, Reuters reported.
"The sanctions have been biting much, much more literally in recent weeks than they have until this time," CIA Director David Petraeus said at a Senate intelligence committee hearing.
"What we have to see now is how does that play out, what is the level of popular discontent inside Iran, does that influence the strategic decision-making of the Supreme Leader and the regime, keeping in mind that the regime's paramount goal in all that they do is their regime survival," he said.
Iran's currency, the rial, has lost "considerable value" and there have been "runs on the bank" as Iranians try to dump domestic currency and acquire assets that will hold value better as inflation "takes off," Petraeus said.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper acknowledged that sanctions so far had not caused Iran's leaders to change their pursuit of nuclear capabilities. But he said some Iranian officials appear more willing to conduct an attack in the United States if they feel threatened, citing last year's alleged Iranian plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to Washington.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, the panel's chairwoman, and Petraeus said they met recently with the director of Mossad, Israel's intelligence service. "We're doing a lot with the Israelis, working together with them. And of course for them, this is, as they have characterized, is an existential threat," Clapper said.
Petraeus, appearing with other intelligence community leaders at an annual open hearing on global threats to U.S. security, said that China has reduced imports of Iranian oil but "it remains to be seen whether that continues."
The West has imposed sanctions over the years due to concerns that Iran's nuclear development program is aimed at building a weapon. Iran says its program is for peaceful purposes.
The latest U.S. sanctions will have a deeper impact because the Central Bank of Iran handles a large volume of foreign bank transactions and receives the revenue for the roughly 70 percent of oil sold by the National Iranian Oil Company, Clapper said.
