Iran condemns US plans to announce new sanctions

Iran has strongly criticized the United States' plans to impose new sanctions, warning that it could further burden Iran's struggling economy and affect its crucial trading partners, including China. Since the outbreak of a war between the United States and Iran on February 28, there has been no direct confrontation, but both sides have refrained from pursuing peace talks.

The Strait of Hormuz is currently experiencing a near total halt in oil shipments, with Tehran threatening to target unauthorized oil tankers attempting to pass through the strategic waterway. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is set to announce the harshest sanctions ever imposed on Iran during a press conference later on Monday.

China, which imports over 80% of Iran's oil, has called for diplomatic solutions. However, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, dismissed the US sanctions as an "assertion of extraterritorial sovereignty over every independent member state of the United Nations" and stated that such secondary sanctions violate international law.

Iranian officials have vowed to target the interests of countries aiding the US, urging neighboring nations to avoid participating in the US economic conflict. Despite the ongoing conflict, Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary, Mohsen Rezaei, urged other countries to refrain from joining the US economic war, warning them that Tehran would consider them as enemies.

With thousands of seafarers stranded on numerous vessels and only a few crude carriers navigating the Strait of Hormuz, the US military has managed to facilitate the movement of oil through the crucial passage, though at a significantly reduced rate.