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Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy. We need your help. More Info ### I would like to contribute One Time Monthly Yearly Join Now ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on October 23, 2023 in remarks at a rally in Derry, N.H.: “When I came into office, Iran had $70 billion in foreign exchange reserves. … By the time I left, they had nothing. They were broke.” ![\\"true\\"](\\" half-true/6479cbc723379f0ee49c269b0b9790b7.jpg.\\") ![\\"half- true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") * New Hampshire * Economy * Iran * Foreign Policy * Donald Trump ![\\"Current](\\" Current and pre-revolution Iranian banknotes and foreign currencies are displayed by a vendor in downtown Tehran, Iran, on Feb. 26, 2023. (AP) ![\\"Louis](\\" By Louis Jacobson October 26, 2023 # Iran’s foreign reserves plummeted on Trump’s watch, but his figures are off #### If Your Time is short * Trump’s numbers are off — Iran’s reserves were larger than he states and did not drop to zero — but he’s on point about the plummeting trend line. * Iran’s foreign currency reserves fell from $128 billion in 2015 to $15 billion in 2019, which represents an even more dramatic decline in absolute dollars than Trump said. * This decline is widely believed to be a consequence of the tightened U.S. sanctions under Trump and it has not reversed to any significant degree since. See the sources for this fact-check During a rally in New Hampshire, former President Donald Trump touted his administration’s policies on Iran, saying they weakened the country’s government. At the Oct. 23 rally in Derry, New Hampshire, Trump cited efforts during his presidency to starve Iran’s hard-line religious government of foreign currency, in hopes of hampering the country’s support for militant groups. \"When I came into office, Iran had $70 billion in foreign exchange reserves,\" Trump said. \"It was loaded up with money that\'s from Obama. His piggy bank was full and it was also full of terrorists. By the time I left, they had nothing. They were broke. They were broke.\" Trump’s numbers are off. But his description of the plummeting trend line holds up — the plunge was about 60% more dramatic than the figures he used. The Trump campaign did not respond to an inquiry for this article. In 2018, the Trump administration pulled out of the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, which was premised on Iran curtailing its nuclear efforts in exchange for a loosening of economic sanctions. The U.S. exit from the deal meant that those sanctions snapped back into place. \"Scores of international companies announced that they would end or suspend their operations in Iran even before U.S. sanctions were formally re- imposed,\" according to the International Crisis Group, an organization that advocates for conflict avoidance. The sanctions, some of them old and some newly crafted, began to be enforced in 2018. When foreign entities purchase Iranian goods, they typically pay either in U.S. dollars, their own currency, or another widely used currency such as euros. So, making it harder for Iran to conduct business with other countries meant that its supply of foreign currency dwindled, as existing Iranian stashes of foreign currency weren’t replaced when spent on overseas goods. This can have a serious impact on a nation’s economy. It can make it harder to import needed goods, which could dampen economic output and increase inflation and unemployment. The country’s own currency usually loses value against other currencies, as well. #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" ![](\\" JD Vance stated on August 25, 2024 in an interview on NBC\'s \"Meet the Press\" “Anything that you lose on the tariff from the perspective of the consumer, you gain in higher wages, so you\'re ultimately much better off.” ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • August 29, 2024 Official data shows that foreign currency reserves in Iran’s central bank climbed steadily from about $2 billion to about $128 billion from 2000 to 2015, including a period of intense negotiation between the U.S., Iran and other countries over the nuclear deal. The level of foreign reserves remained high through the early part of Trump’s tenure, but after the sanctions hit, Iran’s foreign holdings fell precipitously, declining to about $15 billion in 2019. That’s not \"zero.\" Iran had more than $70 billion in reserves when Trump took office, but the fall was dramatic. In absolute dollars, Trump’s figures understated the scale of the decline; he said it was $70 billion, but it was actually about 60% bigger: $113 billion. \"The policy that the Trump administration pursued led to a significant decline in the readily available official reserves of Iran,\" or the foreign currency to which Tehran has full access, said Saeed Ghasseminejad, a senior adviser on Iran with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a right- leaning think tank in Washington, D.C. The sanctions policies the Trump administration pursued were \"a key reason for Iran’s decreased exports and imports, massive inflation, and significant depreciation of the rial,\" its currency, Ghasseminejad said. Iran’s foreign currency reserves have since risen to about $24 billion, but that remains well below their pre-Trump level. The Trump-era sanctions did not lead to the ouster of Iran’s government, and it continues to play an international role at odds with U.S. foreign policy. But on the metric of foreign reserves, Trump was close to accurate. Our ruling Trump said, \"When I came into office, Iran had $70 billion in foreign exchange reserves. … By the time I left, (it was) nothing. They were broke.\" His numbers are off. Iran’s reserves were larger than he said and they did not fall to zero. But he’s on point about the trend line: Iran’s foreign currency reserves fell from $128 billion in 2015 to $15 billion in 2019, a plunge nearly 60% bigger in absolute dollars than Trump said. This decline is widely believed to be a consequence of the tightened U.S. sanctions under Trump, and it has not reversed to any significant degree since. The statement is partially accurate. We rate it Half True. #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources Donald Trump, rally in Derry, N.H., Oct. 23, 2023 Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, \"Gross International Reserves Held by Central Bank for Iran, Islamic Republic of,\" accessed Oct. 25, 2023 International Crisis Group, \"Iran Sanctions under the Trump Administration,\" Jan. 15, 2020 PolitiFact, \"Trump’s pledge to renegotiate Iran deal remains at standstill as election nears,\" July 15, 2020 Email interview with Saeed Ghasseminejad, senior adviser on Iran with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, Oct. 24, 2023 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Louis Jacobson ![](\\" ![](\\" Jon Tester stated on September 8, 2024 in a Facebook ad: Tim Sheehy “would let politicians like him ban abortion, with no exceptions for rape or to save a woman’s life, and criminalize women.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • September 12, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on September 7, 2024 in a rally in Mosinee, Wis.: Vice President Kamala Harris “cast the tiebreaking votes that caused the worst inflation in American history, costing a typical American family $28,000.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • September 8, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on August 22, 2024 in su discurso de aceptación en la Convención Nacional Demócrata: El expresidente Donald Trump “tiene la intención de promulgar lo que, en efecto, es un impuesto nacional sobre las ventas…que elevaría los precios para las familias de clase media a casi $4,000 al año”. ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Marta Campabadal Graus • September 5, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 23, 2024 in a campaign event in Glendale, Ariz.: “There’s been a 43% increase in violent crimes since I left office.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • September 4, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on August 22, 2024 in her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention: Former President Donald Trump \"intends to enact what, in effect, is a national sales tax ... that would raise prices on middle-class families by almost $4,000 a year.\" ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • August 30, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" JD Vance stated on August 25, 2024 in an interview on NBC\'s \"Meet the Press\": “Anything that you lose on the tariff from the perspective of the consumer, you gain in higher wages, so you\'re ultimately much better off.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Louis Jacobson • August 29, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 21, 2024 in a Truth Social post: “The Harris-Biden Administration has been caught fraudulently manipulating Job Statistics.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • August 23, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 8, 2024 in a press conference: Says his Jan. 6, 2021, speech on the White House Ellipse drew the “same number of people,” as the 1963 March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Louis Jacobson • August 9, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Tim Walz stated on August 6, 2024 in un mitin de campaña en Filadelfia: \"El crimen violento aumentó bajo Donald Trump\". ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • August 9, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Tim Walz stated on August 6, 2024 in a rally in Philadelphia: “Violent crime was up under Donald Trump.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • August 7, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on July 30, 2024 in a rally in Atlanta: Donald Trump “intends to cut” Medicare. ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • August 7, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Joe Biden stated on August 2, 2024 in a written statement: \"Since Vice President Harris and I took office … incomes have risen faster than prices.\" ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • August 6, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on July 30, 2024 in an event in Atlanta: \"Donald Trump intends to cut Social Security.\" ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • July 31, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Pete Buttigieg stated on July 28, 2024 in an interview on Fox News Sunday: “Even before the pandemic, America went into a manufacturing recession.” ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • July 31, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on July 18, 2024 in a speech in North Carolina: “Today, America has record energy production and we are energy independent.” ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • July 26, 2024 ### Iran’s foreign reserves plummeted on Trump’s watch, but his figures are off * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 12, 2024 in an Instagram post: A video shows a body that Israel embedded with a bomb exploding during a Palestinian funeral procession. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sofia Ahmed • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 11, 2024 in a post: “ESPN has fired Shannon Sharpe.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Gideon Hess • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 12, 2024 in an Instagram post: Former President Donald Trump admitted during the Sept. 10 presidential debate that he “blew up the Nord Stream pipeline.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" 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Not for her health. Not even for rape.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Samantha Putterman • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 11, 2024 in una publicación en Facebook: Imagen muestra carnet del Partido Comunista de la vicepresidenta Kamala Harris. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Maria Briceño • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Sam Brown stated on August 28, 2024 in a campaign appearance: Proposed Nevada constitutional amendment to protect abortion rights would put “essentially no limit on access to abortion.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Caleb McCullough • September 13, 2024 Load more ### Support independent fact-checking. Become a member! In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts. 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When I came into office Iran had 70 billion in foreign exchange reserves By the time I left they had nothing They were broke