NEARING the six-month mark of the Iran war and facing diminishing stockpiles of key weapons, the Trump administration is touting a crushing financial campaign against Tehran, promising an “economic D-Day” against a country that has so far withstood nearly five decades of punishing American sanctions. With sparse details, President Donald Trump announced this week that the US would be imposing an “unprecedented” level of economic warfare and isolation on Iran, aiming to force its leadership to cave to demands to end its nuclear programme and fully reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz to oil and natural gas tankers. It reflects the dire reality Trump faces with an increasingly unpopular war he can’t seem to end just months before pivotal midterm elections that will decide whether his Republican Party keeps control of Congress. Whether out of desperation or strategy, the President is refocusing America’s might on bringing Iran to its knees through an accelerated sanctions campaign against one of the most economically penalised countries in the world.

 

The immediate response from Iran hawks has been praise and a call for patience as it plays out, while other analysts warn that Trump is refusing to learn the lessons of his predecessors. In an interview Thursday on CNBC, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered a small glimpse of what may be ahead, threatening secondary sanctions on nations and companies that conduct business with Iran. Iran dismisses US economic threats: IRANIAN Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has rejected the economic threats made against his country, saying that such “failed policies” will stir more hostility among Iranians and “bring more failures”. Araghchi’s comments came a few hours after Trump threatened “crushing economic measures” against Iran on Thursday. The US President promised “Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale,” but provided few details. In a social media post, Araghchi maintained that the threats aim to divert the attention of the American public from domestic financial problems, saying that US “economic terrorism threatens the global economy and the national sovereignty of countries around the world”.