Alexandra Sharp
Foreign Policy / August 21, 2026
Senior Iranian leadership warned the United States on Friday that any new U.S. threats would be met with “crushing, punishing, and devastating responses,” just days after the White House announced that it would start targeting Tehran with its “MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN.”
On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump warned 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.” This would include cash transfers, oil smuggling operations, and other corporate fronts, Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time, calling it “Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale.”
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has doubled down on Trump’s threats. “You are either with us or against us,” Bessent told CNBC on Thursday. “It is time for our allies and the rest of the world to make a decision. We are going to squash the economy of this murderous regime.”
The United States has repeatedly criticized its allies, particularly those in NATO, for failing to adequately help the U.S. military defeat Iran. But now, the White House appears to be changing its messaging, warning other countries that they could fall into a similar trap as Iran if they do not comply with Washington’s demands.
“Any remaining tie to Tehran will hasten a nation’s economic oblivion, whether that tie be purposefully constructed or wilfully ignored,” Bessent wrote on X. The treasury secretary is expected to detail the new sanctions package on Monday.
Bessent called on China specifically to reduce its business ties with Iran. Tehran’s ability to weather international sanctions has been partly thanks to its relationship with Beijing, which purchased more than 80 percent of Iran’s shipped oil in 2025, according to data from analytics firm Kpler.
“We are confident that everyone wants the Strait [of Hormuz] reopened, and for energy prices to come back down,” Bessent said on Thursday. “Keep in mind that the Chinese get 50 percent [of their] energy from inside the Gulf, so it would do them a big service to get with the program.”
But China appears unwilling to heed the call. “Regarding the Iran issue, sanctions and pressure do not help resolve the problem,” a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington said in response to Bessent’s comments. “China calls on the relevant parties to take responsible actions and resolve the issue through political and diplomatic means.”
Meanwhile, chief Iranian negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf stressed on Friday that Tehran “must plan for the unjust sanctions so that we can overcome them.” His comments came the same day that Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi, the chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, said that the country’s retaliation could take the form of land, sea, air, or cyberattacks.
Alexandra Sharp, the World Brief writer at Foreign Policy
