{"id":221771,"date":"2026-08-24T08:35:43","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T08:35:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/irans-foreign-minister-calls-threat-of-new-us-economic-sanctions-desperate-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T08:35:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T08:35:43","slug":"irans-foreign-minister-calls-threat-of-new-us-economic-sanctions-desperate-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/irans-foreign-minister-calls-threat-of-new-us-economic-sanctions-desperate-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran\u2019s foreign minister calls threat of new US economic sanctions \u2018desperate\u2019 – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Abbas Araghchi says country is unbowed but president Masoud Pezeshkian admits its people face \u2018many problems\u2019
Iran\u2019s foreign minister has dismissed the threat of a fresh round of US economic sanctions as a \u201cdesperate\u201d ploy, even as its president acknowledged that the Iranian people are facing \u201cmany problems\u201d amid Washington\u2019s efforts to isolate and debilitate the country\u2019s economy.
Last week, Donald Trump announced a new campaign to increase the pressure on the Iranian economy<\/a>, calling it \u201cthe most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country\u201d. The US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, is expected to announce further punitive economic measures on Iran \u2013 which he has described as \u201cthe toughest sanctions in history\u201d \u2013 on Monday.
Despite the threats, Iran\u2019s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, insisted the country remained unbowed. \u201cThe fact that [US leaders] \u200chave moved on from military operations \u2026 to bringing up the same old plans shows that they are desperate,\u201d he said in a \u200cvideo posted on Telegram on Sunday.
\u201cWe have never been afraid. All of their actions \u2013 whether blockades or other military moves they have made \u2013 have failed, and this new issue of theirs will fail as well.\u201d
Araghchi urged Washington to speak to Iran respectfully to find \u201ca \u200csolution based on justice and honour.\u201c
His defiant message came hours after Iran\u2019s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said Trump had thrust his country into \u201ca full-scale economic, military and security war\u201d.
\u201cI understand we have many problems in society right now. We are trying to prevent these as much as we can,\u201d he said in a speech broadcast on state television. \u201cWe are striving with all our hearts to overcome inflation, livelihood problems, unemployment, and to secure the future of the people, so that they can live with dignity and pride.\u201d
The Iranian government has faced several waves of mass protest in recent years, often triggered by economic hardships, including inflation and exchange-rate swings leading to declining purchasing power. At the end of December last year, a protest movement initially sparked by the rising cost of living turned into mass demonstrations<\/a> denouncing those in power.
Authorities reported more than 3,000 deaths during the unrest, accusing the US and Israel of orchestrating the violence. Foreign-based NGOs, however, said Iranian officials had launched an indiscriminate crackdown that left thousands dead.
The new leader of Iran\u2019s top security body has warned its neighbours against joining new US efforts to squeeze Tehran\u2019s economy, and threatened US commercial interests in the region, as Trump doubled down on his fanciful view that the strait of Hormuz was a new US territory.
Mohsen Rezaei, the hardline leader of Iran\u2019s supreme national security council, told state television that Iran would target oil-shipping routes out of the Gulf \u2013 alternatives to the strait of Hormuz \u2013 if its neighbours joined what he called the \u201ceconomic war\u201d waged by the US. Those neighbours would be \u201cconsidered an enemy\u201d and \u201cwe will target their interests\u201d, he said.
Rezaei also claimed Iran had more cards to play in the war, saying it had \u201cnot yet attacked any American economic interests\u201d. \u201cSo far, we have only targeted military bases, but if they want to impose economic sanctions on us, the United States has oil and economic companies around Iran and elsewhere, and we will strike them,\u201d he said in the interview, which was broadcast on Saturday.
Trump\u2019s efforts to finish the war he started along with Israel on 28 February have foundered after a ceasefire agreement signed in June collapsed, leaving Iran in control of the strait of Hormuz, a waterway that was the conduit for one-fifth of the world\u2019s oil supplies before the conflict.
Washington has called on other governments to join its efforts to isolate the Iranian economy, notably China, among Iran\u2019s top strategic partners. However, Beijing has criticised the initiative, arguing that US sanctions will not resolve the conflict in the Middle East.
One of Iran\u2019s main trading partners, the United Arab Emirates, announced on Tuesday last week it was suspending all trade and financial transactions with Tehran until further notice.
The US treasury has for months been carrying out Operation Economic Fury, aiming to cut off Iran\u2019s funding with targeted sanctions, while a naval blockade in the strait of Hormuz has sought to block Iranian oil exports that are vital in keeping the country\u2019s economy afloat.
The US president has in recent days repeatedly raised the concept of declaring the strait a US territory, sharing a map identifying it as such in a social media post on Saturday.
Rezaei said in his interview that discussions continued with Iran\u2019s cross-strait neighbour Oman over management of the waterway, and said fees would be imposed.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, are expected to discuss plans to develop alternative routes to the strait of Hormuz during the Saudi leader\u2019s two-day visit to Paris that starts on Sunday. Proposals include increasing trade through Omani ports outside the Gulf, expanding or doubling pipelines in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, and developing new rail links, officials told the Associated Press.
France and Saudi Arabia have formed a taskforce on energy and logistics connections between the Middle East and Europe that is scheduled to meet at the ministerial level on Monday. The officials said the work would focus on identifying the most strategic projects, securing financing and establishing roles for French companies.
With Agence France-Presse, Associated Press and Reuters<\/em><\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Abbas Araghchi says country is unbowed but president Masoud Pezeshkian admits its people face \u2018many problems\u2019Iran\u2019s foreign minister has dismissed the threat of a fresh round of US economic sanctions as a \u201cdesperate\u201d ploy, even as its president acknowledged that the Iranian people are facing \u201cmany problems\u201d amid Washington\u2019s efforts to isolate and debilitate the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":221772,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-221771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221771\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}