Full story
Economic D-Day Threats
U.S. President Donald Trump announced new economic sanctions against Iran on Wednesday, calling them an "ECONOMIC D-DAY" and warning that any country that provides a "lifeline to Iran" would face "TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences."
“"ECONOMIC D-DAY"”
In a separate post, Trump said, "Oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries, front companies — It all needs to stop NOW. You know who you are."
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi dismissed the threat as "The so-called 'Economic D-Day'" and said it was "a diversion from America’s own crisis: unprecedented debt & surging interest costs."
Araghchi added that "US economic terrorism threatens global economy and sovereignty worldwide," while Trump also suggested the economic pressure could increase even as he said "Right now, the strait is open."
Hormuz, Blockade, and Shipping
As Trump’s sanctions threats unfolded, the AAPNews report said oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz have "virtually halted" while Tehran clings to leverage by threatening to strike any unauthorised oil tankers.
The same report said only "four commodity ships sailed" along the strait on Thursday, and it added that the U.S. said its military helped move "a seven-day average of eight million barrels a day of oil" through the strait.
In an analysis piece, ABC News said Trump claimed the Strait of Hormuz is "open and operating," but it also stated that "a small fraction of the world's oil is transiting" the waterway.
The analysis further quoted Mohammad Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran's parliament, writing on X that Bessent was "way out of [his] league" and that the U.S. was "trying to pull a rabbit out of their hat."
Reactions, Isolation, and Stakes
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned Iran it could face what he called the "greatest coordinated economic isolation in the history of the world," saying the United States is preparing additional economic measures aimed at cutting Iran off financially.
“"This is going to be the greatest coordinated economic isolation in the history of the world"”
Bessent’s warning came as Iranian officials rejected U.S. pressure, and the AAPNews report quoted Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei saying the imminent U.S. sanctions were an "assertion of extraterritorial sovereignty over every independent member state of the United Nations."
The Reuters-linked AJN report said Trump wrote on Truth that "These locos are at the brink of collapse" and that the measures would "paralyze" Iran’s ability to "diffuse the terrorism by all over the world."
In the same AJN account, Trump also said, "IRAN NUNCA TENDRÁ UN ARMA NUCLEAR," while the ABC News analysis described the expired "60-day memorandum of understanding" and said Trump wrote there were "no talks or conversations going on" with Iran.