Iran said yesterday that its response to any new US threats would be “devastating” after Washington pledged to impose the toughest financial penalties in history with the aim of toppling the Iranian leadership.
US Treasury chief Scott Bessent’s comments on Thursday followed a warning from President Donald Trump of economic consequences against any country that provided “any type of lifeline to Iran.” Bessent promised details on Monday.
The chief of staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, Major General Ali Abdollahi, said the Islamic Republic’s reaction would be broad and decisive.
“With preparedness across land, sea, air, air defence and cyberspace, Iran’s armed forces will respond to the enemy’s new threats with crushing, punishing and devastating responses,” Abdollahi was quoted as saying by Iranian media.
Iran’s powerful Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the country’s main negotiator in mediated negotiations with the United States, said Washington appeared to have concluded it could not prevail in its direct military confrontation.
“We must make plans to deal with the unjust sanctions so that we can overcome them,” he said during a visit to neighbouring Iraq, accusing the US and Israel of resorting to what he said was economic and “cognitive” warfare.
Ship crossings at the Strait of Hormuz chokepoint were down on Thursday from the previous day, initial shipping data showed, amid growing concern over risks to shipping in the Middle East.Offers of Iranian crude to Chinese buyers have declined and prices have jumped this week as the US blockade has cut Tehran’s shipments, according to trade sources, with the threat of more sanctions from Washington looming, reports Reuters.
Meanwhile, a new US aircraft carrier strike group has arrived in the Middle East, the US military announced Thursday, after conditions aboard Abraham Lincoln, the long-deployed carrier, provoked fresh criticism of Trump’s war against Iran.
In a separate development, an Israeli air strike has targeted a house on the outskirts of Baraachit, in the Bint Jbeil district of southern Lebanon. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said his government “will spare no effort to achieve the complete Israeli withdrawal and the return of our prisoners to their cities and villages”.
Oil prices steadied yesterday but were on track for a second weekly rise on concern over Gulf energy exports amid US sanctions threat.
