World awaits Iran's response to Trump's "economic D-Day" sanctions

The US is set to announce new economic sanctions against Iran, described by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as "the single greatest financial offensive ever marshalled against an adversary". According to the US State Department, sanctions have been imposed on Iran since 1979, after the US embassy in Tehran was seized. A Congressional Research Service report says these sanctions are the most extensive and comprehensive set maintained by the US on any country.

The new sanctions aim to add economic pressure and bring Tehran back to the negotiating table. The United Arab Emirates, Iran's largest trading partner in the Middle East, has announced it will end all trade with Iran, a move Tehran believes was coordinated with Washington. Iran has vowed to retaliate against any country that cooperates with the US attempt to impose fresh sanctions.

The US claims to have "dismantled Iran's capabilities, destroyed nearly 100 percent of its military factories, and buried its nuclear program", according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Tehran, meanwhile, views the economic threats as not credible and has warned that any support for the measures is an "act of war". The effectiveness of the US rhetoric will be tested by whether nations such as India, China, and Russia take the economic threats seriously.

Brief written by urgent.news from CBS News, Egypt Independent, The Hill, The Guardian, DW News — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.