With diplomacy stalled over ending the war on Iran, Washington is seeking to ratchet up pressure on Tehran with “unprecedented” economic pressure. After United States President Donald Trump threatened to punish any country doing business with Tehran last week, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that a new series of economic measures will “collapse” the Iranian government, calling on countries to join the effort. On Saturday, Tehran threatened to retaliate against any country that joins the US in economic sanctions against it.
Here’s what we know about what the US is planning and how Iran could respond. The Trump administration has already been waging an economic pressure campaign against Iran under the banner of “Operation Economic Fury”, since the launch of the war in February. In particular, it is currently running a naval blockade on Iranian ports in a bid to prevent oil exports and has targeted companies, brokers and tankers accused of helping Iran sell its oil abroad.
It also has longer standing sweeping sanctions in place on Iran’s oil, shipping and financial sectors, seeking to cut off the revenue Tehran earns from energy exports. It has also imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports. In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, Trump announced what he called the “most crushing economic operation” against Iran.
Trump said Iran had “failed to take” the opportunity to make a deal, and would face “economic warfare and isolation on an unprecedented scale”. He also threatened sanctions against any country that does business with Iran. This will be an ECONOMIC D-DAY, and we need all of our Allies to stand with the United States of America to isolate, and defeat, the Iran threat.” On Thursday last week, one day after Trump’s social media tirade, Bessent told the news service CNBC that the US would apply the “toughest sanctions in history” on Iran.
We have the blockade [on Iran], and we are going to have the toughest sanctions in history,” Bessent said. Iran has decried any new, impending US sanctions – particularly economic action against other countries – as a “complete erosion of sovereignty”. In a post on X on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the US announcement was “an assertion of extraterritorial sovereignty” against the United Nations’ member states.
No state can compel foreign banks, enterprises or airports to renounce commerce with Iran, he said. Iranian state media pointed out that Tehran has faced US sanctions for decades. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the new measures were “bound to fail”.
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