them when they are finished. “Until we have the right technology, we prefer keeping them underground instead of excavating more,” says Camila Castillo, also of Chinchorro Marka. A new museum that is under construction south of Arica should help. In 2021 UNESCO added the Chinchorro remains and their landscape to its list of world heritage sites. That presented a possible solution: developing the sites into a tourist attraction, and hosting many of the mummies there. But not everyone is happy with that. A small fishing community has illegally built makeshift homes in the Camerones valley within the site. UNESCO would like them to relocate, but they are not so keen. Meanwhile their numbers are growing, and their presence is increasingly damaging the remains. The local mayor, Christian Zavala, has upped the tension by saying the mummies get more attention than his constituents. But some older residents like José Concha, who has lived in the area for more than 30 years, understand the economic opportunities they offer. “I’m becoming too old to go fishing,” he says. “I would love to become a tour guide to teach tourists about the mummies.” Ms Castillo says Chinchorro Marka hopes to raise money to set up a centre where the mummies can be studied and exhibited in collaboration with residents of Camarones. But if that is to work, the archaeologists will need to show that they care as much about Caleta Camarones’s future as they do about its past. ■ This article was downloaded by zlibrary from https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2026/08/27/the-problem-with-the-worlds- oldest-mummies
Iran will be able to shrug off America’s financial threats How the Houthis have become the most fearsome of Iran’s allies The quiet tycoons powering Africa’s rise Why smugglers are stealing Kenya’s ants
Middle East & Africa | Losing pressure Iran will be able to shrug off America’s financial threats In the face of fresh sanctions, the regime is defiant Aug 27th 2026 WHEN DONALD TRUMP began Operation Epic Fury nearly six months ago he hoped that America’s military might would crush Iran’s regime. When its bombs failed, he bet on sweeteners. In June America offered Iran sanctions relief and billions of dollars in investment in the hope the country’s leaders would open the Strait of Hormuz and renounce any nuclear ambitions. That approach failed, too. So Mr Trump has vowed to break the regime by smashing Iran economically. He said the effort would be an “economic D-Day”. But when Scott Bessent, the treasury secretary, revealed the details on August 24th, his threats rang hollow.
Iran has been under American sanctions since the Islamic revolution in 1979. In his first term Mr Trump exerted what he called “maximum pressure” on the regime in an effort to force concessions on its nuclear programme. The new campaign, dubbed Operation Economic Outcast, is presumably maximum plus. As well as enforcing its blockade of Iranian oil exports, America will increase pressure on Iran’s trading partners and on institutions that help the regime move money. But the threats were more bark than bite. Countries will not have to comply with America’s demands immediately. The treasury secretary conceded it was “a warning shot”. Iran is in dire economic straits. The rial has lost around a third of its value against the dollar since January. It hit an all-time low ahead of Mr Bessent’s announcement, though it later rebounded a little. The war has destroyed great chunks of Iranian industry. Damage to refineries has left fuel in short supply, leading to long queues at petrol stations. Inflation is running at 88% year on year. The regime is printing money to pay for food vouchers. Meanwhile, America’s blockade of Hormuz has caused Iran’s oil exports— the regime’s main source of income—to collapse. On August 20th the head of Iran’s central bank said they had “fallen to zero”. According to Kpler, a trade-intelligence firm, Iran still has some 80m barrels of oil on board ships
outside the strait. But that would only provide a fraction of its usual income from such exports. Mr Bessent did not name the countries that he wants to reduce trade with Iran. But several stand out. Before America’s blockade, China had been buying Iranian oil at $7-12 below the market price for a barrel, sidestepping the existing American embargo. Last year it scooped up about 90% of Iranian crude exports, which, America reckons, provided the regime with nearly half its budget. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) sells more to Iran than any other country. It provided some 30% of Iran’s total imports in 2024. It also hosts shadow banks that the regime uses to evade sanctions. In April the American Treasury reportedly wrote to the UAE’s leaders to ask them to close such outfits. America is not the only country trying to inflict economic pain on Iran. Over the past few months the UAE had softened its stance towards Iran, resuming trade and allowing Iranian residents to return. But on August 18th it said it would stop all trade and financial transactions with Iran after the regime launched strikes against its ships. Mr Bessent called the Emirates “a very good partner”. But its financial system is opaque. Iran’s transactions are often disguised using shell companies, so money may keep flowing despite the UAE’s ban. Others will openly resist American pressure. China has warned that the new sanctions risk damaging global growth and financial stability, and vowed to protect its “legitimate rights and interests”. America has previously targeted Chinese firms involved in Iran’s oil trade; in April it imposed sanctions on Hengli, a refiner that American officials accused of buying billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian crude. But it may be reluctant to go further for fear of retaliation or of undermining Mr Trump’s diplomatic outreach to China. “If you start to target Chinese companies, it’s no longer an Iran issue,” argues Esfandyar Batmanghelidj of Bourse and Bazaar, a think-tank in London. “It’s a matter for your China policy.” And even if America imposed secondary sanctions on big Chinese banks, Iran might still transact with China using its own payment systems.
Iran’s leaders have greeted the threats with derision. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of parliament, mocked American talk of “D-Day” on social media: “This ain’t Normandy.” Mohsen Rezaei, Iran’s hardline national security adviser, dismissed Mr Trump’s threat of economic warfare as “propaganda”. He asked, not without some cause: “What does he want to do that he has not done before?” The regime would be in trouble if further economic hardship prompted demonstrations of the kind that erupted in January. But for now, that seems unlikely. Iran has been executing protesters in public. Iran’s leaders view America’s pivot to economic coercion as proof that their foe has no desire to continue its failed military campaign. That could embolden Iran to launch new attacks, in an attempt to get concessions from Mr Trump. Mr Rezaei has said that any country that works with America will be treated as an “enemy” and could be targeted. Iran has considerable leverage over its neighbours such as Iraq, which buys its gas and hosts several of its armed proxies. And there is always Hormuz. Hours before Mr Bessent’s announcement, Iran threatened to fine or seize nearly 50 ships in the strait, which it accused of breaking its rules for crossing. The regime’s leaders know well that their economy is struggling. Mr Ghalibaf has conceded that Iran will “not survive” without economic growth. Masoud Pezeshkian, the president, has urged America to return to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that it offered in June. This set out a framework for ending the fighting and promised to reintegrate Iran with the global economy. The Iranians do not want to end up in a situation like that of North Korea, says Mr Batmanghelidj, “where they continue to face significant costs because the sanctions remain”. On August 24th Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, who has been mediating between Mr Trump and Iran, visited Tehran, reportedly to discuss reviving talks between the two sides. But even if America does renew the MoU, doing so will not solve the disagreements over Hormuz that caused it to fall apart. Iran still has the power to punish its adversaries—and it is unlikely to refrain from doing so. America’s talk of choking Iran’s economy looks like an attempt to avoid another round of fighting. It may yet backfire. ■ This article was downloaded by zlibrary from https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2026/08/24/iran-will-be-able-to- shrug-off-americas-financial-threats
Middle East & Africa | Arabia’s south-western front How the Houthis have become the most fearsome of Iran’s allies Yemen and the Red Sea are both threatened Aug 27th 2026 FOR FOUR years an uncomfortable truce in Yemen’s long civil war has prevailed. But now open conflict is breaking out again. The Houthis, Iran- backed rebels, have accused Yemen’s internationally recognised government and Saudi Arabia, its most important ally, of planning a big offensive. On July 30th their leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, said his forces would “respond to their full-scale escalation with one of our own”. Throughout August they have launched drone and missile attacks against government positions, killing dozens of soldiers and civilians. Yemen’s regular army has struck back hard.
The Houthis think they have much to gain from restarting the war. Since mid-July their militia has been firing at Saudi-linked ships in the Red Sea, as well as ports, airports and refineries. Hardly any Saudi tankers have sailed through the Bab al-Mandab Strait, at the sea’s southern tip, this month, according to Kpler, a data provider. The Houthis’ attacks have two aims. First, to blackmail the kingdom into paying Yemeni civil servants and lifting restrictions on flights and shipping. Second, to seize the initiative. If the Saudis and their allies were planning an offensive, the Houthis have beaten them to it. They may also have bigger goals. The Houthis have controlled Yemen’s north-west, including the capital, Sana’a, and much of the west coast, since 2014. Some 70% of Yemenis live under their rule. But the rebels have long wanted more. On August 15th Houthi missiles hit the port of Mokha, near Bab al-Mandab, forcing it to close. The attacks seem designed to weaken the National Resistance Forces, an elite group of government-backed fighters that use Mokha as a base. Forcing them from the city would give the Houthis more control of shipping through the strait. The Houthis also want control of Yemen’s oilfields. In early 2022 they nearly captured oil wells in Marib, east of Sana’a, but were repelled by a government-aligned militia trained by the United Arab Emirates (UAE).