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Economic D-Day Begins
The United States threatened Iran with what it called the “biggest financial war ever,” as it prepared to impose economic sanctions Monday targeting Iran’s trading partners and framing the move as the start of an “economic D-Day.”
“With dawn, the day of economic decision begins — the biggest financial war ever waged against a foe.”
Reuters reported that U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen would hold a press conference at 1:00 p.m. ET on Monday, after writing in an opinion piece in the Financial Times that “With dawn, the day of economic decision begins — the biggest financial war ever waged against a foe.”
Iran responded by warning it would halt all oil exports from the Gulf “if the economic war persists,” while Reuters said Iran’s Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, wrote on social media that “If the economic war continues, not a drop of oil will be exported, neither through the Strait of Hormuz nor from anywhere in the Persian Gulf.”
The dispute unfolded as the warring countries had not launched military strikes against each other for weeks, but had not entered serious talks to end the six-month-old conflict, according to Reuters.
Sanctions Target Partners
In parallel with the U.S. sanctions push, the BBC said Washington prepared to impose economic sanctions Monday targeting Iran’s commercial partners and warned of what it termed the “largest financial war in history.”
The BBC quoted Yellen’s Financial Times language that “At dawn, the day of economic decision arrives—the largest financial war ever waged against an adversary,” and said she hinted the United States would target “pariah states” that practice a “policy of appeasement” by engaging with the Iranian economy and financial system.
The BBC also reported that the United Arab Emirates announced on Tuesday, August 18, a suspension of all commercial and financial transactions with Iran until further notice, and that Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir would visit Tehran on Monday as part of Islamabad’s mediation efforts.
Reuters added that Iran had been preparing for the sanctions for days with strong statements, and it said Iran’s warning included treating any country participating in the U.S. economic war against the Iranian people or supporting it as an act of war.
Operation Economic Pariah
Other reporting described the U.S. effort as a named campaign, with Al-Jazeera Net saying the Treasury launched the “economic pariah” operation targeting Iran and its supporters under President Donald Trump’s directions.
“the so-called 'economic pariah' operation targeting Iran and its supporters”
Al-Jazeera Net said the measures included companies and ships linked to what Washington calls Iran’s “Shadow Fleet” in the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, and Switzerland, and it said the penalties also affected 60 entities and individuals and a ship connected to Iran in the fields of nuclear energy, missiles, and oil.
The same outlet said the U.S. Treasury Secretary warned that any military action targeting U.S. forces or Gulf states would be met with a direct and decisive response from President Trump, and it tied the sanctions escalation to additional measures imposed since the outbreak of the war on February 28.
In a separate account, BioBioChile said Bessent announced Operation “Economic Pariah” to close “all economic avenues” of Iran and warned that “no one is exempt” from indirect punitive measures for doing business with the Iranian regime, while also reporting that Bessent said the Treasury had mapped “all nodes, facilitators, and networks” used by Iran for oil smuggling and sanctions evasion.