US and Iran exchange defiant messages as sanctions loom
The United States and Iran exchanged defiant messages ahead of Monday’s scheduled announcement of new U.S. economic sanctions that could impact the Islamic Republic and Tehran’s most important trading partners including China, reports BritPanorama.
As the war neared six months old, the two sides were not exchanging fire but also not pursuing peace talks. Oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz have virtually halted as Tehran threatens to strike any unauthorized oil tankers attempting to transit the narrow waterway.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. ET on Monday to unveil what he termed “the toughest sanctions in history” on Iran while urging China to cooperate with Washington. China purchases over 80% of Iran’s shipped oil, according to 2025 data from analytics firm Kpler, and has since called for diplomacy.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei described the impending U.S. sanctions as an “assertion of extraterritorial sovereignty over every independent member state of the United Nations.”
“Such secondary sanctions find no foundation in international law,” he stated in a post on X.
President Donald Trump warned of economic consequences against any country providing “any type of lifeline to Iran,” adding that Washington was observing developments in the conflict. “They would love to make a deal, but they’re not ready to make the right deal, in my opinion,” Trump remarked regarding Iran.
While the U.S. has effectively blockaded Iranian vessels in their ports, only four commodity ships managed to sail through the Strait on Thursday, none of which were large crude carriers or liquefied natural gas tankers, according to ship-tracking data.
Nevertheless, Iran has permitted several Iraqi oil tankers to pass through the Strait following repeated requests from Baghdad, according to Iran’s state news agency IRNA. Obtaining such special permissions was one of the central requests during Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf’s recent visit to Iraq.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright reported that U.S. military operations had facilitated an average of 8 million barrels a day of oil movement through the strait, a significant drop from more than 20 million per day prior to the war, equating to one of every five barrels consumed globally.
U.S. attacks have severely diminished Iran’s economy and crippled its navy and air force; however, Tehran retains sufficient missile and drone capabilities to disrupt oil tanker traffic and target regional rivals.
Despite ongoing conflicts, Trump has not yet achieved his initial war objectives, such as dismantling Iran’s nuclear program, the status of which remains uncertain following the expulsion of U.N. inspectors in 2025. He also aimed to create conditions for the overthrow of Iran’s clerical regime.
Since the war’s onset, thousands have died, including 168 Iranian school children on the first day. The U.S. has reported over 750 military personnel wounded and 18 killed.
The chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi, assured on Friday that Iran would respond to enemy threats with “crushing, punishing and devastating responses.”
Conversely, President Masoud Pezeshkian advocated for a diplomatic resolution, suggesting, “It would be better to end the war today, when we are powerful and have dignity, and the whole world acknowledges our victory…,” according to ISNA.
Ghalibaf, leading Iran’s negotiations with the U.S., acknowledged the economic strain in remarks to Iranian and Iraqi businesspeople. “No matter how much military power we have, we won’t survive if people are hungry and we don’t have financial turnover, economic growth and national production,” he stated, as reported by official news agency IRNA.
