Trump vows ‘economic warfare’ on countries helping Iran

President Donald Trump has warned that countries helping Iran could face severe economic penalties, Al Jazeera reports.
Further increasing pressure on Tehran as the nearly six-month conflict drags on and diplomatic efforts to end the fighting remain stalled.

“I am launching the most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country,” Trump wrote in a statement released Wednesday. “Economic warfare and isolation on an unprecedented scale. Countries whose financial institutions, businesses, airports or government agencies give our enemy Iran any type of lifeline will suffer tremendous economic consequences.”

Trump’s message does not explain what those consequences could include nor which countries may be targeted.

The announcement signals another shift by Washington to place increased economic pressure on Iran through isolating the country and restricting its access to revenue sources such as oil sales and other financial transfers. According to reports, Trump has asked for an end to certain Iranian activities – including oil smuggling, cash transfers, exchange-house deals and the use of front companies.

But Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said he saw no threat from the announcement. Saying that the US’s policy was simply the “continuation of failed policies which will lead the US to further defeat”.

Fighting and disruption around the strait have continued to impact regional trade and global energy markets. In addition to this, the US has tried to force Iran into talks again over recent months but those ceasefire attempts have been unsuccessful in securing a more permanent agreement.