Iran has said it is confident it can counter widened US sanctions after Washington announced what it described as an "economic D-Day" against the country to try to isolate it from the global economy. Announcing a raft of new measures, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said any nation financially partnering with Iran would be isolated, and that banks and businesses dealing with Iran would share its isolation if they refused to cut ties.
The moves follow U-turns and extended deadlines from the White House in its efforts to end the conflict. Some economists have questioned whether the latest sanctions will be effective, as this depends on the reaction from Iran's trading partners.
These include China, the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, which has ignored previous US sanctions and continued to do business with Tehran. Last week, another of Iran's trade partners, the United Arab Emirates, said it was halting all financial transactions with the country.
But hours after the US announcement, Iran said it was confident it would continue to trade with other nations. Madanizadeh said neither China nor Russia had accepted the US measures, and predicted other countries would resist them."
The government is and was ready and has a two-year plan to manage these events," he told state television, adding Tehran had been "waiting for these plans for a long time"." We also have our own tools and know how to play the game," he said.
Foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jiang said economic pressure tactics would not help resolve problems, and Beijing would safeguard its own interests. The war has led to hikes in global oil prices, and in response to the latest threat Iran warned it would shut down all oil exports from the region if the war continued.
The Iranian regime has also issued a fresh warning to ships not to pass through the Strait of Hormuz without permission, according to Reuters. One fifth of the world's oil and gas usually passes through the strait - a narrow waterway south of Iran.
But the flow has been effectively blocked by the country since the conflict began at the end of February, leading to higher oil prices globally. At a press conference earlier on Monday outlining what has been called " Operation Economic Outcast", Bessent said the US was launching an "economic onslaught against Iran's financial connections around the globe"."
Iran now faces a very clear choice with only two paths before them: complete global isolation... or a path back to normalcy with an opportunity to rejoin the global economy," he said.
