US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was launching a new campaign against Iran’s economy and threatened “tremendous” penalties against any country that does business with Tehran, as talks to end the five-month conflict remain deadlocked.
“Today, I am announcing the MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale.”
He went further in warning third countries: “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 called it an “ECONOMIC D-DAY” and said Washington needed its allies to stand with it.
He did not specify what those consequences would be, and named no country other than Iran.
Little that is new
Al Jazeera reported that no concrete new measures accompanied the announcement. Trump instead referred to steps already under way — sanctions on Iran’s oil, shipping and financial sectors, naval blockades, and action against companies accused of facilitating Iranian oil sales. He listed oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries and front companies as targets.
Iranian state media were dismissive. The Tasnim news agency treated the announcement as a repetition of earlier threats, while the state broadcaster IRIB cast it as a consequence of the failure of military action.
The declaration follows Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s statement about a week earlier that the United States would impose economic isolation on Iran “like the world has never seen before”, Ada Derana reported.
Hormuz still closed
Despite a lull in missile exchanges, Iran continues to enforce an effective blockade on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz after a framework US-Iran deal to reopen the corridor collapsed.
Both sides have said in recent days that messages were being passed between them, but Trump insisted on Tuesday that talks were off, and posted a message suggesting the strait could become a “NEW US Territory”.
Trump is facing renewed domestic scrutiny over the war with November elections approaching. The closure of Hormuz remains the central economic risk of the conflict for Sri Lanka, which imports the bulk of its refined fuel through the Gulf.
