Iran's president has acknowledged that the country faces serious economic strain as the US prepares to unveil new sanctions. Meanwhile the new head of Iran's top security council has warned neighbouring states and threatened US commercial interests.
Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, told state television on Sunday that Trump had pushed the country into a full-scale economic, military and security conflict, and said Tehran is trying to hold back the fallout. He said the government is striving to overcome inflation, livelihood problems and unemployment.
Bessent to announce new sanctions
Pezeshkian's admission came a day before the US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, is expected to announce further punitive economic measures, which he has described as "the toughest sanctions in history." Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, said the coming sanctions amount to an assertion of extraterritorial sovereignty over UN member states and have no basis in international law.
Security chief threatens neighbours
Mohsen Rezaei, the hardline new leader of Iran's supreme national security council, told the broadcaster IRIB that Iran would target oil-shipping routes out of the Gulf if neighbouring states joined the US economic campaign against Tehran, saying such states would be treated as hostile. Rezaei, a former commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, also said Iran has not yet struck any American economic interests but would do so if Washington imposes further sanctions, since the US has oil and economic companies operating around Iran and elsewhere.
Trump has repeatedly floated declaring the strait of Hormuz, which carried one-fifth of the world's oil supplies before the war, a US territory, even though Iran controls the waterway following the collapse of June's ceasefire. Rezaei said talks continue with Oman over managing the strait and that fees would be imposed on traffic through it.
Allies look for workarounds
The United Arab Emirates suspended all trade and financial transactions with Iran last week. China, meanwhile, has criticised Washington's push to isolate Tehran's economy. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, are expected to discuss alternative oil routes bypassing Hormuz during a two-day visit to Paris, including expanded pipelines and new rail links through Saudi Arabia and Omani ports.
Source: The Guardian
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