{"id":131554,"date":"2026-08-20T13:47:07","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T08:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=131554"},"modified":"2026-08-20T13:47:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T08:47:08","slug":"tremendous-consequences-trump-threatens-economic-punishment-on-any-country-helping-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131554\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Tremendous consequences’: Trump threatens economic punishment on ‘any country’ helping Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON(National Times)- United States President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was launching a major new campaign to target Iran\u2019s economy, threatening \u201ctremendous\u201d punishment on any country that helps or does business with the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The intensified economic pressure campaign comes as the war nears its sixth month with no immediate diplomatic or military off-ramp in sight and the vital Strait of Hormuz still significantly choked-off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With November elections quickly approaching, Trump is also facing renewed domestic scrutiny over the war\u2019s costs on US consumers and toll on the military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday, I am announcing the MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY! This will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale,\u201d Trump wrote on Truth Social.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He did not specify what punishment countries would face, and none other than Iran were mentioned by name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He listed several activities that he said need to stop immediately: \u201coil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries, front companies\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had similarly said <\/a>last week that the US would soon be ramping up efforts at economically isolating Iran, as part of a two-pronged approach with a US naval blockade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt will be a combination of economic isolation, like the world has never seen before,\u201d Bessent told conservative television network Newsmax<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US Treasury has for months been carrying out an effort, dubbed Operation Economic Fury, aiming to cut off Iran\u2019s funding with targeted sanctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Thursday that the US \u201cEconomic D-Day\u201d against Iran was a diversion from America\u2019s economic problems and warned that further pressure would fail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDoubling down on failed policies will only bring further defeat\u2014and enmity of Iranians. US economic terrorism threatens global economy and sovereignty worldwide,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Iranian defiance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Iran has struck a defiant tone, having survived months of US military operations that failed to bring a decisive end to the war and has \u2014 according to US media reports \u2014 severely drawn down US munition stockpiles. The Pentagon has denied these reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conflict broke out on February 28 with US-Israeli attacks on Iran, which retaliated with missile and drone strikes across the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tehran\u2019s missile and drone threat has severely curtailed shipping traffic through the Strait, as a framework US-Iran deal to reopen it collapsed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Trump earlier on Wednesday touted US military efforts to aid ships out of the strait, saying \u201cright now, a lot of boats are coming through\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Digital media outlet Axios<\/em> reported that US forces were facilitating the transit of 15 to 20 ships in and out of the Hormuz each night in recent weeks \u2014 carrying \u201croughly half the pre-war volume\u201d of daily oil shipments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent days, both sides have said messages were being exchanged, however Trump on Tuesday insisted talks were off and posted a message<\/a> on social media suggesting the strait could be a \u201cNEW US Territory\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Tuesday, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced that it was suspending <\/a>all economic dealings with Iran after saying it had been targeted by two ballistic missiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The neighbours across the Gulf share deep cultural and historical ties, and the UAE \u2014 home to a sizable Iranian community \u2014 had been a major trading partner for US-sanctioned Iran, at least before the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need all of our Allies to stand with the United States of America to isolate, and defeat, the Iran threat,\u201d Trump said Wednesday on Truth Social.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON(National Times)- United States President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was launching a major new campaign to target Iran\u2019s economy, threatening \u201ctremendous\u201d punishment on any country that helps or does business with the country. 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