KT McFarland told Newsmax on Thursday that Iran's economy could collapse within "a week, maybe at the most two weeks," as U.S. pressure halts the country's oil exports and chokes off its primary revenue stream.
On "Rob Schmitt Tonight," McFarland pointed to President Donald Trump's earlier remarks that the U.S. is in no rush to end the war with Iran but that "the clock is ticking" for the regime.
"You know what President Trump said when after he said time is on our side, why is it on our side?" said McFarland, a former deputy national security adviser in Trump's first term. "Iran is hemorrhaging money. They're getting no income from their oil sales.
"No oil tankers are going in. No oil tankers are going out of Iran. No ships are going into Iran. No ships are going out of Iran," she said.
Her comments come as the administration maintains pressure on Tehran amid escalating tensions in the region, including threats to shipping lanes such as the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial artery for global energy markets.
Trump has signaled patience in the standoff while emphasizing that Iran faces mounting economic strain as its exports are squeezed.
McFarland said the most immediate pressure point is Iran's limited capacity to store oil once exports grind to a halt.
"Iran probably has, by some estimates, a week, maybe at the most two weeks, where it has to have someplace for that oil to go," she said.
She explained that Iran's oil infrastructure depends on a continuous flow from wells through pipelines to export terminals, particularly Kharg Island, where crude is loaded onto tankers.
"When you stop the ability of that pipeline to put oil in an empty tanker, the whole system starts backing up," McFarland said. "Iran probably has excess capacity to store maybe a little bit of time, maybe a week, maybe two weeks. But what happens then?"
Shutting down production is not a viable option, she added.
"You can't just turn a switch and have the well stop pumping. It does enormous damage to the well, probably irreparable damage," McFarland said. "And at the same time, you're going to prevent Iran from having any income after this war to rebuild any of this."
The result, she warned, is imminent economic collapse.
"So, what happens in a week, two weeks? Their economy collapses," she said.
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