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Trump’s “Economic D-Day”
U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the United States would impose an “ECONOMIC D-DAY” on Iran and said that “ANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences.”
“ANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences.”
Trump said “Oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries, front companies — It all needs to stop NOW,” and he described Iran as “maníacos” that were “contra las cuerdas” in a Truth Social post.
Iran dismissed the threat of “Economic D-Day” as “a diversion from America’s own crisis,” with Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi saying, “US economic terrorism threatens global economy and sovereignty worldwide.”
While Trump’s pressure campaign was framed as economic, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told reporters that the Pentagon has not ruled out kinetic attacks in the Strait of Hormuz or near Iran, saying, “If we need to use kinetic attacks, we will use them.”
Sanctions, sectors, and leverage
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,” and said the United States is preparing additional economic measures aimed at cutting Iran off financially.
Bessent also threatened an “economic onslaught against Iran's financial connections around the globe” and said the objective was to “sever every economic lifeline” that sustains the country.
The Treasury Department said the new sectoral sanctions determinations target five critical sectors—“digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping”—that the U.S. says Iran has relied on to generate income.
A senior Iranian security official, Mohsen Rezaei, warned neighboring countries and other states against joining the U.S. “economic pressure campaign,” saying Tehran would regard such countries as “enemies.”
Strait of Hormuz and next moves
As the U.S. pressure campaign unfolded, Trump suggested the naval blockade had been “extremely effective,” saying “Right now, the strait is open. A lot of boats are coming through,” and adding that “People aren't reporting that, and that may slow down a little bit at some point.”
“The naval blockade has been extremely effective”
In response to the sanctions pressure, Rezaei said the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed until the United States fulfills its commitments under a peace memorandum of understanding signed between Tehran and Washington in June.
A briefing on Al Arabiya quoted Hamza al-Qoud, deputy director for the Middle East at Business Monitor International, saying imposing American sanctions on countries that deal with Iran “will not affect China,” and that sanctions would remain “a lever of pressure” at the negotiating table.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi framed the “Economic D-Day” threat as “a diversion from America’s own crisis,” while Trump’s campaign emphasized that any country providing a “lifeline” to Iran would face “TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences.”