President Trump said Saturday that Iran has been "decimated" by months of American economic pressure and now faces a choice between "the easy way or the hard way," as fresh data shows the country's economy buckling under a US naval blockade that has strangled its oil exports.

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said the administration's pressure campaign was "crushing" Iran's leadership, pointing to figures showing inflation approaching 90% and a rial that has collapsed past 2.2 million to the US dollar. The 12-month average inflation rate hit 69.9% in September alone, according to data cited in CNBC's tracking of Iran's economic collapse.

Exports Have Fallen Off a Cliff

The economic damage traces largely to a US naval blockade that has choked off Iran's crude exports even as diplomacy remains deadlocked. Iran loaded an estimated 220,000 to 255,000 barrels per day of crude oil and condensate in August — down from roughly 740,000 barrels per day in July and about 2 million barrels per day back in March, according to tanker-tracking estimates reported by Reuters via US News. Years of sanctions had failed to meaningfully curb Iran's oil trade; the blockade, enforced by US warships, has succeeded where those sanctions couldn't.

"THE EASY WAY OR THE HARD WAY"

The squeeze comes as Washington has continued building up its military presence in the region, with the Pentagon moving additional sailors and Marines toward the Middle East aboard carrier strike groups in recent weeks, a deployment detailed by the Spokesman-Review. Iran, for its part, still has dozens of tankers carrying crude idling inside the Strait of Hormuz, unable to find buyers willing to risk the blockade.

What's next: With Iran's currency in freefall and its main export revenue source cut off, the administration is betting economic collapse will force concessions at the negotiating table — though Tehran has so far shown no public sign of backing down.