Washington (GNP): President Donald Trump has warned that any country providing economic support to Iran will face severe consequences, escalating pressure on Tehran as the war between the United States, Israel and Iran shows no sign of a diplomatic resolution nearly six months after it began.
In a social media post on Wednesday evening, Trump said he was launching an economic operation of unprecedented scale against nations that continue trade or financial dealings with the Islamic Republic.
Says Trump, “ANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences.”
He listed specific channels he wants shut down, including oil smuggling, currency swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries, and front companies. However, he did not name any specific country or outline what punitive steps the United States intends to take.
The warning follows the expiry of a 60-day ceasefire between the United States, Israel, and Iran, a truce that had aimed to restore normal shipping through the Strait of Hormuz but collapsed before the underlying conflict could be resolved. The war, which began in February, has killed thousands of people and disrupted global energy markets, with roughly one-fifth of the world’s traded oil normally passing through the strait.
Trump’s latest threat builds on Operation Economic Fury, a campaign launched in April by the US Treasury Department and Pentagon to cut off Iran’s revenue streams through sanctions, a naval blockade and pressure on foreign firms doing business with Tehran. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last week that Washington would soon impose economic isolation on Iran on a scale the world has not previously seen.
The pressure campaign comes a day after the United Arab Emirates, a close US ally that hosts a major American military base, announced it was suspending all trade, commercial exchanges and financial transactions with Iran until further notice.
The UAE’s defence ministry said the move followed the detection of two ballistic missiles fired from Iran that landed in the sea, a claim Iran has dismissed as baseless. Iran’s armed forces subsequently warned Gulf states that any assistance provided to US forces in the region would be treated as collusion.
Also Read: US National Debt Surpasses the $40 Trillion Mark
China remains the largest buyer of Iranian oil, purchasing more than 80 percent of Tehran’s shipped crude, according to 2025 data from analytics firm Kpler, a dependence that complicates any broader US economic action given China’s role as a major exporter to the United States, including of critical rare-earth minerals.
Washington has already sanctioned several privately owned oil processing plants, known as teapot refineries, based mainly in China’s Shandong province, a move Beijing’s Ministry of Commerce said violated international law and would not be recognised or enforced.
Iran has signalled it remains open to dialogue but is not prepared to treat negotiations as surrender. Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, said that neither military pressure nor sanctions would break Iran’s resolve, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency.
Trump has said he wants to seize Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium and negotiate a more restrictive nuclear agreement to replace the deal he withdrew from in 2018, while accounts of whether direct talks are currently underway have varied between Trump and his son-in-law and special envoy, Jared Kushner.
With the US midterm elections approaching in November, Trump faces mounting pressure at home over the economic toll of the conflict, including its effects on global oil prices and the costs borne by American consumers.
Managing Editor at Global News Pakistan (GNP), with a Bachelor's degree in International Relations from Riphah International University, graduated with a Gold Medal. Reach out at sabahtareengnp@gmail.com
