US warns allies and China to join Iran economic pressure campaign
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The United States on Thursday urged allies and China to join its campaign to isolate Iran's economy, as President Donald Trump seeks to intensify pressure on Tehran amid a stalemate in the war and growing domestic criticism.
By: FRANCE 24 US President Donald Trump, pictured here at the White House, threatened other nations who refused to co-sign his plan to put economic pressure on Iran, on August 20, 2026. © Jim Watson, AFP The United States on Thursday warned allies and China to join President Donald Trump' s new campaign to isolate the Iranian economy , vowing that Washington would "collapse this regime" in Tehran .
Iran branded the US threats as "economic terrorism " and said they would fail.
Under fire at home over the impact of the war and with crucial midterm elections looming, Trump had on Wednesday promised the "most crushing" economic operation ever against Iran.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent echoed the president's comments, doubling down on economic pressure on Tehran as Trump's unpopular war drags towards the six-month mark.
"Any remaining tie to Tehran will hasten a nation's economic oblivion, whether that tie be purposefully constructed or willfully ignored," Bessent said on X.
Neither Trump nor his Treasury chief has set out the measures they are planning against Iran. Bessent said he would give more details during a press conference on Monday.
"We're kind of now in a new phase where the most effective tool that we have is the economic pressure that we can apply to them," Vice President JD Vance told a conservative podcast.
"This is a delicate dance because" Iran will "try to apply economic pressure to us."
Asked whether the United States would pressure China, Bessent told CNBC that "many conversations are best to have in private", but called on Beijing "to get with the programme".
Chinese President Xi Jinping is due to visit the White House on September 24.
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But the US Treasury boss said the economic plan meant the United States is less likely to have to return to heavy military operations against Iran.
"If we are doing the maximum economic pressure, then that means that likely there will not be a large-scale kinetic restart, but I will emphasise that is for now," Bessent said.
"The so-called 'Economic D-Day' is a diversion from America's own crisis: unprecedented debt & surging interest costs," Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X.
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"Undoubtedly, the US economic sanctions against Iran, which have targeted the fundamental human rights of every Iranian citizen, are a case of 'economic terrorism' and ' crimes against humanity '," it said in a statement carried by state media.
Despite the heavy international sanctions and a US-enforced naval blockade in the Gulf, Iran has found ways to continue exporting its oil, with China as its biggest buyer. Tehran operates a so-called shadow fleet of tankers, all of which are under international sanctions.
Washington announced new measures Thursday against Hezbollah 's financing network in Lebanon, highlighting its close ties with Iran's Revolutionary Guards .
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Trump's pledge on Wednesday of unprecedented "economic warfare" on Iran comes as the president grows increasingly frustrated with the lack of movement on the military front.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, the US leader said he was announcing "the MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY! This will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale."
But the US is also buttressing its military presence in the region.
A new US aircraft carrier strike group arrived in the Middle East on Wednesday, after grim conditions aboard a long-deployed carrier provoked fresh domestic criticism of Trump's war.
The USS George Washington is replacing the USS Abraham Lincoln, which had reportedly suffered food shortages, broken plumbing and a number of suicide attempts during a deployment that began in November 2025.
The United States meanwhile on Thursday approved a potential $4.5 billion sale of refuelling aircraft to Qatar , which has acted as a mediator in Washington's war with Iran.
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