Iran Warns Countries Not to Join New US Sanctions

The United States has announced a massive new set of sanctions — economic penalties — against Iran, calling it the largest financial attack ever launched against any country. Iran has fired back with strong warnings, saying it will punish any nation that helps the US carry out the plan. The big question now is whether powerful countries like China, India, and Russia will go along with the US demands or ignore them.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the goal is to completely cut off Iran from the world's financial system. He warned that any country or company that keeps doing business with Iran could also face US sanctions. 'Either the countries are with us or against us,' Bessent said. He added that the US would 'destroy the economy' of Iran's government.

Iran's security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, responded with a fierce threat. He said Tehran would unleash an 'earthquake-like' retaliation if the US moved forward with its plan. He also warned Iran's neighbors in the Gulf region not to join the US campaign, saying that if they did, 'not a drop of oil will leave the Persian Gulf and the strait of Hormuz.' The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterway that much of the world's oil passes through.

The United Arab Emirates, which is Iran's biggest trading partner in the Middle East, said it was stopping all trade with Iran. Iran believes the UAE made this move because Washington pressured it to do so. This was an early sign that some countries in the region are willing to follow the US lead.

China has long been the top buyer of Iranian oil, and its response has been very different. The Chinese government told its own companies to ignore US warnings about trading with Iran. China said the US sanctions have no basis in international law and called them illegitimate, meaning unfair and not legally valid. Earlier this year, the US threatened Chinese oil refineries with sanctions but largely backed off when it seemed the move could start a bigger trade war.

A US naval blockade — a military barrier at sea — has already made it very hard for Iran to ship its oil to other countries. Iran's central bank chief admitted that the country's oil exports had 'virtually stopped.' Iran's currency, the rial, has dropped sharply in value, and prices inside Iran have shot up quickly, a sign of serious hyperinflation. The White House believes Iran's economy is once again close to collapse.

Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, rejected the new sanctions as a sign that the US is desperate. He argued the measures would fail, just like past efforts. An Iranian international lawyer, Reza Nasri, went further, saying the US was not just targeting Iran — it was trying to control what every country in the world can do. 'Sovereignty itself is the target,' he said, meaning the US was threatening the right of nations to make their own decisions.

Some Iranian experts say the sanctions are not actually new. Hassan Ahmadian, a professor at the University of Tehran, said Iran has been under heavy sanctions since 2018, and they did not work then either. He said the US and Israel had tried military action against Iran, and now they were falling back to economic pressure. He called the talk of an 'economic war' a sign that the military approach had failed.

Iran has survived US sanctions for more than 20 years. Still, the situation is growing more tense. Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remained disrupted over the weekend, which put pressure on global energy markets. Pakistan's army chief traveled to Tehran on Monday to explore restarting stalled peace talks, showing that diplomacy — talks between nations — has not completely stopped.