Key facts
- Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref stated that the U.S. government's 'economic terrorism' will not undermine Iran's economic stability or people's livelihoods.
- Aref asserted that economic pressure cannot change the Iranian people's resolve and would instead produce the opposite effect.
- President Donald Trump announced new, stringent sanctions against Tehran, calling them the 'most crushing economic operation' ever against a country.
- Trump warned that countries maintaining economic engagement with Iran would face consequences.
- Iran's Foreign Ministry condemned the sanctions as 'economic terrorism' and 'crimes against humanity'.
- Iran's Armed Forces chief of staff vowed a 'broad and decisive' response to new U.S. threats.
Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref stated on Saturday that the U.S. government's "economic terrorism" will not undermine Iran's economic stability or people's livelihoods. He asserted that the experience of the Islamic Revolution shows economic pressure cannot change the Iranian people's resolve and would instead produce the opposite effect.
Aref's remarks followed U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of new, stringent sanctions against Tehran, which Trump described as the "most crushing economic operation" ever taken against any country. Trump also warned that countries maintaining economic engagement with Iran would face severe consequences.
Iran's Foreign Ministry condemned the new round of U.S. economic sanctions, calling them "economic terrorism" and "crimes against humanity." The ministry stressed that Washington's reliance on economic sanctions and military aggression risks global peace and security.
The chief of staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi, stated that the Islamic Republic's reaction to new U.S. threats would be "broad and decisive." Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accused the U.S. and Israel of resorting to economic and "cognitive" warfare.
U.S. Treasury chief Scott Bessent commented that the measures should not drive up oil prices, suggesting that maximum economic pressure would likely mean no large-scale kinetic restart. Iran has weathered near-continuous sanctions for nearly 50 years since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.