TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has vowed to retaliate against to widened U.S. sanctions, saying Washington should “expect an attack” in response to the measures. Madanizadeh added that at least two nations — China and Russia — have so far given no indication that they plan to fall into line. At a news conference Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian said Beijing was firmly opposed to “illegal unilateral sanctions,” according to Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency.
He added that Tehran had been preparing for such an economic assault and had a two-year plan in the works to deal with the impact, though he did not expand on that strategy. The comments came after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday announced the fresh battery of measures against Iran, which he dubbed an “economic D-Day,” warning that any nation financially partnering with Tehran would be isolated.
The U.S. stopped short of imposing actual penalties. Bessent provided limited details on the measures and did not identify countries that could be targeted with secondary sanctions, but he said President Donald Trump was “making phone calls to world leaders with specific requests to cease their interactions with the regime.” The U.S. Department of the Treasury confirmed in a news release Monday that it had launched “Operation Economic Outcast.” In a news release it said it was expanding the categories of Iran-related conduct that could be subject to secondary sanctions in the future, with determinations issued against “five critical sectors — digital assets, technology, gold, aviation, and shipping.” It added that the Office of Foreign Assets Control had also sanctioned nearly 60 entities, individuals and vessels in multiple jurisdictions that it said “enable the Iranian regime’s recklessness,” in addition to other measures.
The operation’s launch came after the United Arab Emirates, which has long maintained close economic ties with Iran, last week announced it would be halting all financial transactions with Tehran. On the ground in Tehran, some Iranians expressed indifference at the U.S.’s announcement, which Bessent described as “the single greatest financial offensive ever” against Iran. Farzin declined to give his last name.
Many Iranians are wary of speaking with and identifying themselves to U.S. media. He said Tehran appeared to be interpreting the measures as “economic warfare” aimed at its “regime survival rather than as bargaining pressure designed to produce a compromise.” As a result, its response “has consequently been defiance rather than accommodation.” Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said in comments published by the semiofficial Tasnim news agency on Monday that the U.S. The stated reason for waging war was preventing Iran from building a nuclear weapon.
Tehran has long denied it is seeking to build a nuclear arsenal. Since then, the key waterway has largely been strangled by a blockade imposed by Iran, sending energy prices soaring, with the U.S. also launching its own blockade in Iranian ports in response to Iranian attacks along the strait. Hormuz was open and without tolls when the U.S. and Israel triggered the war.
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