Despite decades of crippling international sanctions, a collapsing domestic economy, and an ongoing blockade, the Iranian regime continues to function.
The secret to its endurance, according to Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs researcher Ella Rosenberg, lies in a fundamental disconnect between the Iranian state and the ruling regime itself.
While ordinary citizens face skyrocketing prices, severe infrastructural decay, and a genuine possibility of starvation, the regime relies entirely on a robust shadow economy to survive and bypass formal global banking systems.
To maintain this hold on power, the regime sustains itself through a sophisticated web of gray banking and illicit oil sales. Funds are systematically laundered through exchange houses and shell companies situated in free-trade zones in the UAE and Turkey before seamlessly reaching European markets.