Iran Threatens Countries Joining US in Economic Sanctions
Iran has threatened to retaliate against any country that joins the United States’ ‘economic war’ against it. The warning from a senior Iranian security official on Saturday came amid US plans to announce new sanctions that could further pressure Tehran’s economy.
Mohsen Rezaei, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, told state broadcaster IRIB that Iran is urging all countries in the world, including its neighbours, not to join the ‘economic war’ launched by the US.
‘Any country that participates in imposing economic restrictions on us will be considered an enemy,’ he said, as reported by Al Jazeera. He warned of retaliatory action with devastating impact.
Rezaei outlined Iran’s strategy as a three-stage sequence beginning with negotiation efforts to ease tensions.
‘Of course, we will negotiate with them first. We will hold talks and ask them to distance themselves and separate from the United States. However, if they do not act, we will launch attacks. We will target that country’s interests,’ he asserted.
Rezaei’s statement came days after US President Donald Trump announced that his administration would launch the ‘most crippling economic operation’ to date against Iran. Trump also promised ‘very severe economic consequences’ for any country providing a ‘lifeline of any kind’ to Iran.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reiterated the threat the following day, saying, ‘You have to choose: you are with us or against us.’ He also urged cooperation from China, the country that buys more than 80 percent of Iran’s oil exports.
Bessent is scheduled to outline details of the planned sanctions on Monday.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Saturday that the imminent announcement of new US economic sanctions constitutes ‘an affirmation of extraterritorial sovereignty over every sovereign member state of the United Nations’.
‘Secondary sanctions of this kind have no basis in international law,’ he said in a post on platform X.