US threatens sanctions on countries that don’t cut economic ties to Tehran

• Threat from Washington: The US is threatening damaging new sanctions on countries that refuse to cut economic ties with Iran — but has stopped short of actually imposing big new penalties. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also warned that groups helping Tehran launder money face expulsion from the US financial system.

• Iranian response: Finance Minister Ali Madanizadeh said Tehran is “fully prepared” to counter sanctions while top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf brushed off the US threats.

• Economic pressure: Iran’s currency has dropped to a record low against the dollar, and US President Donald Trump insists Iran is “collapsing.” Even though Iranians are suffering financially, the country is no stranger to economic pain.

• Talks with regional leaders: Pakistan’s army chief met with Iranian officials — including Ghalibaf — in Tehran today, according to Iranian state media. Oman’s foreign minister will also visit Iran tomorrow for talks on the Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran is “fully prepared” to counter US sanctions targeting countries that maintain ties to Iran, Finance Minister Ali Madanizadeh told the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran News Network (IRINN) on Monday.

United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the planned measures during a press conference on Monday as part of what he has dubbed an “economic D-Day” against the regime.

“Apparently, (the US) have now decided to try another failure. We have long been expecting these days and were well aware of the plans they had. The government has a two-year plan and is fully prepared, and has been prepared, for these developments,” Madanizadeh said.

The official accused the US of wanting to “ wage economic terrorism” against Iran.

“We know how to play this game. This time, they should not think our response will be purely defensive and that we will only defend ourselves. They should also expect us to go on the offensive,” he added.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent earlier today warned of potential dire consequences for countries with economic ties to Iran.

“Every country has a defined timeline to shut down activities we have identified. If they do not take action, we will do so unilaterally through Treasury authorities,” Bessent said at a news conference.

Bessent declined to name the specific countries. However, China, India, Turkey, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates could be most at risk for US action, experts told CNN.

“China, by far, is the most impactful one if you really wanted to make a dent in Iran’s ability to continue to finance their activities,” said Daniel Tannebaum, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.

According to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, China is Iran’s largest trading partner and purchaser of Iranian oil.

Iran sent $22.4 billion in exports to China and imported $15.6 billion from there in 2022, per the World Bank.

However, experts are skeptical that the administration will act strongly against China, especially ahead of Xi Jinping’s expected visit.

“The US government has never gone hard on economic sanctions on China,” said Tannebaum, who is also a partner at management consulting firm Oliver Wyman.

The UAE has historically been one of Iran’s largest commercial partners. However, it announced last week that it was suspending all trade and financial transactions with Iran “until further notice.”

Turkey has been a robust key trading partner for Iran, with more than $5 billion in bilateral trade in 2024, according to its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and it imported 13% of its natural gas from Iran last year.

Iraq and Iran have historically traded billions, with Iraq being dependent on Iranian electricity and gas.

India’s trade with Iran has fallen in recent years, standing at around $1.6 billion in 2025-2026, according to India’s Department of Commerce.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent after the US threatened new sanctions targeting countries with ties to Iran.

Bessent announced plans at a news conference today to place sanctions on countries that refuse to sever economic ties with Iran, but he stopped short of imposing new major penalties.

Netanyahu prasied the move in a post on X.

“You justly exact a steep price from that cruel dictatorship and from those who assist its continued aggression,” Netanyahu said.

United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent threatened new sanctions on countries refusing to cut economic ties with Iran in a news conference today.

Though the US Treasury Department stopped short of imposing new big penalties, the warnings come after recent rhetoric from Bessent and President Donald Trump threatened an “economic D-Day” for Iran.

Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, fired back that the US is not in an economic position to restrict its relations with other countries and that “no one believes their bluster.”

Here’s what Bessent said earlier:

• Trump has been calling world leaders with specific asks regarding the administration’s demand to work with the US to isolate Tehran economically, according to Bessent. He did not say specifically which countries Trump has been in communication with, but added that “we’ve already seen some results.”
• Bessent did not outline any specific timelines for when countries must cut economic ties with Iran or face financial penalties.
• Bessent declined to say whether the US is willing to target Chinese banks with sanctions — a move that could jeopardize delicate relations between China and the Trump administration. China is Iran’s main trading partner.
• The secretary also threatened to expel groups that help Iran launder money from the US financial system. Bessent said the public should expect a major sanctions announcement targeting an unspecified financial institution by the end of this week.
• Defending the decision to hold off on issuing sanctions targeting countries tied to Iran, Bessent said his announcement today was a “warning shot.” The US, he said, is “giving everyone the opportunity to remedy bad behavior.”

More news you might’ve missed:

Pakistan’s army chief in Tehran: Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, met with Iranian officials — including top negotiator, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei told Munir the US “must change its behavior and take concrete steps toward fulfilling the conditions of the memorandum of understanding.” Trump spoke by phone with Munir last week, a source told CNN.

Elsewhere in the region: Meanwhile, the US officially lifted its state sponsor of terrorism designation on Syria.

CNN’s Adam Cancryn, Alayna Treene, Matt Egan, Betsy Klein, Aida Karimi and Mitchell McCluskey contributed reporting to this post.

President Donald Trump spoke by phone with Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, last week, a source familiar with the conversation confirmed to CNN.

Munir met with Iran’s top negotiator in Tehran on Monday, according to Iranian state media, underscoring Pakistan’s potential role in efforts to revive diplomacy between Washington and Tehran.

Trump insisted Monday on social media that Iran is “COMPLETELY COLLAPSING.” However, according to reports, he discussed Iran in his conversation with Munir and asked Pakistan to use its influence to help restart negotiations.

After US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent threatened new sanctions targeting countries with ties to Iran, top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf argued that the US is not in an economic position to restrict its relations with other countries.

“The Americans know that no one believes their bluster. Economically, the United States is not in a position to further restrict its relations with other countries,” Ghalibaf said.

Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliamentary speaker, wrote in a post on X that “Iran’s trading partners have stated — both publicly in the media and in messages sent to us — that they attach no importance to these remarks.”

Meanwhile, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency quoted a senior Iranian intelligence source as claiming the new US measures were aimed primarily at influencing public opinion rather than imposing meaningful new restrictions.

The source said the measures were “based solely on the design of Trump’s media team” and were intended to increase “psychological pressure on the people of Iran,” Tasnim added, without naming the source.

The United States “must change its behavior,” Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei said during a meeting Monday with Pakistan’s army commander, according to state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).

“The United States must change its behavior and take concrete steps toward fulfilling the conditions of the memorandum of understanding,” Rezaei said.

Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, underscored Iran’s distrust of the US and spoke about Iran’s management of the Strait of Hormuz, IRIB reported.

Rezaei previously vowed to “neutralize the economic war” with the US and threatened to halt the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz unless the Americans “honor their commitments.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended the decision to hold off on issuing crippling sanctions targeting nations tied to Iran, casting the “economic D-Day” announced Monday as a “warning shot.”

“We believe that a warning shot and a level-set of expectations is appropriate,” Bessent told CNN’s Kevin Liptak at a press conference.

The US, he said, is “giving everyone the opportunity to remedy bad behavior,” adding that applying the sanctions immediately without any warning could “blow up the global financial system.”

Bessent added: “We believe that it is important to level-set and give people a cure period, but they should know that that will move very quickly and that we are serious.”

The US is threatening sanctions on countries with economic ties to Iran, with each country given “a defined timeline to shut down the Iran-related activity” identified by the US, the Department of Treasury said in a statement.

Bessent declined to lay out those specific timelines during his press conference, nor did he name the countries that the US has been in contact with.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is threatening to expel groups that help Iran launder money from the US financial system at the heart of the global economy.

“Let me clear: Any entity that facilitates money laundering on behalf of Iran will be removed from the US dollar system. The clock just started ticking,” Bessent said during his prepared remarks on Monday.

“If they facilitate transactions and are part of the ecosystem that turns Iranian oil into money, into repression, they will be targeted,” Bessent said in response to a question about sanctions.

In a press release, the Treasury Department used somewhat softer language, saying any entity that facilitate money laundering or sanctions evasion “risks being cut off from the US financial system.”

Asked if Chinese banks could face secondary sanctions for their alleged role in helping Iran, Bessent said the best approach is through “quiet diplomacy,” but added that “no one is above the reach of US sanctions.”

“We are level-setting with every country to tell them our expectations,” he said. “We know who they are. They know who they are. So when the hammer of US Treasury actions falls upon them, they will have no one to blame but themselves.”

Bessent said the public should expect a major sanctions announcement targeting an unspecified financial institution by the end of this week.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday sent a message to Iranian soldiers that should question their military leadership and suggested they could act to bring down the government in Tehran.

“To the ordinary soldiers supporting this regime, as more and more of your paychecks stop or are supposedly just delayed, ask whether your commanders are leading your country to triumph or to ruin, and recall that the Berlin Wall fell when ordinary soldiers decided not to shoot at their own people,” he said at a press conference announcing a new economic pressure campaign in Iran.

Administration officials, including President Donald Trump, have raised the prospect of regime change at various points in the war, including at its outset, but have also claimed that was not the goal of the US operations.

It is unclear if “ordinary soldiers” would have been able to see his message, given restrictions in Iran.

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