IRAN - Iran’s increasing economic problems are as much a result of internal mismanagement as US external trade pressure, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei conceded Monday. “Economic experts and many officials believe the cause of this issue is not foreign, it’s internal,” he said in a speech in Tehran, according to tweets released on his official account and reported by AFP. “Not that sanctions don’t have an impact, but the main factor is how we handle them.” Khamenei referred specifically to the collapse in the currency, which has seen half its value wiped since early April. “If our performance is better, more prudent, timely and effective, sanctions will not have that much effect and can be resisted,” he added.