Iran vows to fight back against latest US sanctions

Iran has vowed to fight back against the latest American sanctions — warning Washington that its response would not be purely defensive.

Iran’s Economy and Finance Minister, Ali Madanizadeh, told a local news network in Tehran that his government had been preparing for this moment, with a two-year plan to withstand the new pressure.

But, he also acknowledged that the Iranian people were already suffering badly from inflation, currency pressure and shortages.

US Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, on Monday unveiled an “economic D-Day” for Iran, a new sweeping effort to economically isolate the country after six months of war.

The US Treasury on Monday sanctioned roughly 60 individuals, companies and vessels tied to Iran’s oil revenues, sanctions-evasion networks and weapons programmes, while expanding the threat of secondary sanctions into shipping, aviation, tech, gold and digital assets; further warning countries around the world that they had to choose between trade with Tehran or potentially loosing access to the American financial system.

The Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, launching Operation Economic Outcast in an effort to foreclose on every other option available to the Iranian government.

“We want to make clear that no one is above the reach of US sanctions, that if they facilitate transactions and are part of the ecosystem that turns Iranian oil into money, into repression, they will be targeted.

We find that the best way to engage with countries is through quiet diplomacy and we are level setting with every country to tell them our expectations.

We know who they are, they know who they are.

So, when the hammer of US Treasury actions falls upon them, they will have no one to blame but themselves.” Speaking on The Islamic Republic of Iran News Network, the country’s Finance Minister Ali Madanizadeh hit back — while acknowledging that the new US measures would have some impact on an already weary population, he argued that the new punitive measures would fail.

“Naturally, they want to wage economic terrorism against us, and we have our own tools as well.

We know how to play this game.

This time, they should not think our response will be purely defensive and that we will only defend ourselves.

They should also expect us to go on the offensive.