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Sanctions split leadership
Tehran faced a rise in conflicting statements as Iranian Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaee threatened to target countries participating in the sanctions and warned U.S. President Donald Trump and neighboring states not to engage in an economic war with Washington.
“Mohsen Rezaee threatened to target countries participating in the sanctions”
Rezaee said Iran would consider any neighboring country participating in the sanctions an enemy and would not allow a single drop of oil to leave the Gulf and the Hormuz Strait if those countries join Washington, while Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi opened the door to a political path by stressing the importance of returning to the memorandum of understanding with the United States to end the ongoing state of "no war, no peace" that has persisted for six months.
In the same reporting, Ismail Baqayi, spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, announced that Pakistan's Army Chief Asim Munir will visit Tehran on Monday to continue efforts to promote peace and security in the region amid American threats to impose harsher sanctions.
Masoud Pezeshkian, in a speech broadcast on state television on Sunday, said he is trying to prevent the "many problems" brought by fresh economic sanctions and described Donald Trump as staging "a full-scale economic, military and security war" against Iran.
Retaliation and talks
Iran warned it would retaliate against any country that joins the United States’ “economic war,” with Mohsen Rezaei telling the IRIB state broadcaster that “Any country that takes part in imposing economic restrictions on us will be regarded as an enemy,” and warning of a “seismic” retaliation.
Rezaei described Iran’s strategy as a three-stage sequence starting with talks to de-escalate tensions, saying, “Of course, we will first negotiate with them. We will hold talks and tell them to step aside and distance themselves from the United States.”
The Al Jazeera account linked the threats to stalled diplomacy, noting that traffic in the Strait of Hormuz remained effectively halted and that Iran closed the strait shortly after the United States and Israel launched joint strikes on February 28.
It also reported that Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and Abbas Araghchi spoke over the phone and reviewed efforts “to create an environment conducive to de-escalation,” including “return to the diplomatic path” and the “resumption of the implementation of the US-Iran memorandum.”
Fuel prices and pressure
As the United States prepared to announce new sanctions, Iran’s government signaled economic strain through fuel policy, with Al Jazeera reporting that Tehran is preparing the public for another increase in fuel prices as it tries to buoy the country’s ailing economy.
“Iran’s 93 million population”
The same report said the offer of heavily subsidised fuel to Iran’s 93 million population is a burden the government is struggling to afford, and it quoted Masoud Pezeshkian saying, “I understand that we have many problems in society now. We are doing our best so the people are not afflicted, but the enemy is doing its absolute best so we won’t succeed,” during a speech on Sunday morning.
Al Jazeera also tied the fuel debate to the sanctions and the war, noting that after Donald Trump threatened to target Iran with the “most crushing economic operation” ever undertaken, the Iranian rial hit a new all-time low of 2 million rials per the US dollar in Tehran’s open market on Sunday afternoon.
In parallel, the BBC reported Trump’s announcement of the “most crushing economic operation” against Iran and quoted his warning that “any country allowing its financial institutions, companies, airports, or government bodies to provide any form of lifeline to Iran would find itself facing enormous economic consequences.”