Washington is preparing a financial offensive while Tehran signals that the next move could reach the energy routes the world depends on.<\/p>\n
The United States is preparing to announce a new package of economic sanctions against Iran and its trading partners. In Washington, these measures have been described as the most extensive financial assault ever directed against an adversary.<\/p>\n
At the same time, Tehran has threatened to completely halt oil exports from the Persian Gulf if economic pressure from the United States continues to intensify. Such a scenario could further complicate shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and affect global fuel prices.<\/p>\n
US Announces New Sanctions Pressure<\/p>\n
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is scheduled to hold a press conference on Monday, August 24, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time, or 5:00 p.m. GMT. He is expected to reveal details of measures that could affect countries and companies that support trade with Iran or interact with its financial system.<\/p>\n
At dawn, economic D-Day begins \u2013 the largest financial offensive ever organized against an adversary.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Scott Bessent<\/p>\n
In his article for the Financial Times, Scott Bessent also warned countries that, in his words, are choosing \u201cappeasement\u201d by cooperating with the Iranian economy. He urged them to consider the potential consequences of such a policy.<\/p>\n
Iran has been subject to international economic restrictions almost continuously since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Before the current war began, its economy was already suffering from high inflation, a weakening national currency, energy shortages, and systemic problems.<\/p>\n
Threat to Halt Oil Exports From the Persian Gulf<\/p>\n
Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran\u2019s Supreme National Security Council, said Tehran was ready to respond to new sanctions with economic measures. He warned of a possible halt to oil exports both through the Strait of Hormuz and from other areas of the Persian Gulf.<\/p>\n
If the economic war continues, not a single drop of oil will be exported \u2013 neither through the Strait of Hormuz nor from anywhere in the Persian Gulf. Iran will regard any country\u2019s participation in or support for America\u2019s economic war against the Iranian people as an act of war.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Mohsen Rezaei<\/p>\n
Iran retains sufficient missile and drone capabilities to strike neighboring Persian Gulf states and threaten oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. As a result, vessel traffic through this strategically vital waterway has nearly come to a halt, while global fuel prices have come under pressure.<\/p>\n
The exact state of Iran\u2019s nuclear program remains unknown. The United States and Israel say they seek to eliminate it.<\/p>\n
War Continues Without Negotiations<\/p>\n
In recent weeks, the United States, Israel, and Iran have not launched new strikes against one another. At the same time, no substantive negotiations have taken place to end the war, which has now lasted six months.<\/p>\n
Since US and Israeli strikes began on February 28, thousands of people have been killed, mostly in Iran and Lebanon. The military campaign has weakened a significant part of Iran\u2019s conventional military capability, damaged the country\u2019s infrastructure, and killed Iran\u2019s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.<\/p>\n
Iranian authorities have publicly projected defiance, but Iranian officials have acknowledged that further economic punishment could worsen social hardship, trigger new unrest, and further undermine the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic.<\/p>\n
The country must also cope with the consequences of damaged infrastructure, disrupted trade, reduced production, and substantial reconstruction costs.<\/p>\n
Mediators Seek to Revive Diplomacy<\/p>\n
The last official face-to-face contacts between US and Iranian representatives took place in Switzerland in June. Since then, Qatar, Pakistan, and Turkey have sought to facilitate a diplomatic settlement.<\/p>\n
Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir is expected to arrive in Tehran on Monday. The Iranian side linked the visit to efforts to restore peace and security in the region. A Pakistani official said the meetings could address the latest developments, including the US threat of new sanctions.<\/p>\n
China, which has historically sourced about half of its oil imports from the Persian Gulf region, has been urged to cooperate with the United States. China\u2019s embassy in Washington responded that sanctions and pressure do not help resolve the issue, stressing the need for diplomatic efforts.<\/p>\n
The war has already killed thousands of people and displaced millions of Iranian residents. The United States has reported 18 service members killed and more than 750 wounded. Amid renewed threats of sanctions, the risk of further escalation over oil exports and shipping security in the Persian Gulf remains.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Washington is preparing a financial offensive while Tehran signals that the next move could reach the energy routes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261909,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[6028,49526,34,6475,72015,42,101,69,146],"class_list":["post-261908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tehran","tag-global-oil-prices","tag-gulf-oil-exports","tag-iran","tag-iran-sanctions","tag-iran-sanctions-us-iran-tensions-gulf-oil-exports-strait-of-hormuz-global-oil-prices","tag-news","tag-strait-of-hormuz","tag-tehran","tag-us-iran-tensions"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/117148397260345391","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}