Iran is banning imports of over 1,300 products, preparing its economy to resist threatened US sanctions, amid rare public protests against the plunge of its currency to record lows. The prohibited imports include home appliances, textile products, footwear and leather products, as well as furniture, healthcare products and some machinery.

The government is justifying its latest imports ban by citing economic security. The ban would prevent an outflow of $10 billion of foreign currency. The IMF estimated in March that the government held $112 billion of foreign assets and reserves, and that Iran was running a current account surplus. These figures suggested Iran might withstand the sanctions without an external payments crisis.

But as US pressure constricts Iran’s access to the international banking system, its ability to deploy some of those resources may have suffered. India is planning to revive a rupee trade mechanism to settle part of its oil payments to Iran, fearing foreign channels to pay Tehran might close.