U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has warned Iran of an economic D-Day, as it prepared to roll out economic sanctions that target Iran’s trade partners.
asserted
that → warn → partners
The remarks followed shortly after Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian defended a memorandum of understanding with the United States as the best way out of a stalled war.
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Pezeshkian → follow → war
Iran in turn vowed to shut down all oil exports from the Gulf “if the economic war continues”.
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war → vow → Gulf
In a post on X, Mr. Bessent wrote, “President Trump has dismantled Iran’s military capabilities, destroyed nearly 100% of its military factories, and buried its nuclear programme.
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Trump → write → programme
We are now entering the endgame.
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We → enter → endgame
At dawn begins an economic D-Day — the single greatest financial offensive ever marshaled against an adversary.”
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Day → begin → adversary
“The Islamic Republic has subsisted by dressing extortion as security guarantees.
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Republic → subsist → guarantees
It has drawn strength from a calculus that regards Iranian retaliation as certain and American enforcement as negotiable.
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that → draw → retaliation
And those who fear the danger of defying Tehran ought not to discount the cost of testing Washington,” he said.
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he → fear → Washington
He further added, “The President has created the conditions to leverage every agency, every authority and action many assumed we would never summon.
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we → add → agency
Our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains the tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone.”
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Tehran → sever → regime
The U.S. Treasury Secretary will hold a press conference at 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT) on Monday (August 24, 2026) amid promises to reveal even more severe measures on a country that has endured near-continuous economic sanctions since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
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that → hold → 1979
The statement arrives closely on the heels of U.S. President Donald Trump’s call to impose economic sanctions against Iran.
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statement → arrive → Iran
The remarks underscore the Trump administration’s shifting stance of an economic rather than military pressure on Tehran as the war drags toward the six-month mark.
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war → underscore → mark
Mr. Trump has warned of economic consequences against any country that provides “any type of lifeline to Iran”, and Mr. Bessent has urged cooperation with Washington by China, which buys more than 80% of Iran’s shipped oil, according to 2025 data from analytics firm Kpler.
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which → warn → Kpler
The warring nations have not conducted military strikes against each other for weeks, but they also have not engaged in meaningful talks to end the six-month-old conflict.
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they → war → conflict
‘U.S. sanctions will fail’
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sanctions → fail → ?
But, Iran has dismissed the threat of new U.S. sanctions as a sign of desperation and said the expected new measures would fail to defeat Tehran.
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measures → dismiss → Tehran
Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, suggested economic retaliation.
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Rezaei → suggest → retaliation
“If the economic war continues, not a single drop of oil will be exported, neither through the Strait of Hormuz nor from anywhere in the Persian Gulf,” Mr. Rezaei wrote in a social media post.
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Rezaei → continue → post
“Iran will regard any country’s participation in or support for America’s economic war against the Iranian people as an act of war.”
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Iran → regard → war
In a defying stance, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also termed the measures as “repetitive scenarios”.
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Minister → term → scenarios
“The fact that they [U.S. leaders] have moved on from military operations... to bring up the same old plans shows that they are desperate,” he noted.
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he → move → plans
He urged Washington to speak to Iran respectfully to find “a solution based on justice and honor.”
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He → urge → justice
Furthermore, he added, “We have never been afraid.
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We → add → ?
All of their actions—whether blockades or other military moves they have made—have failed, and this new issue of theirs will fail as well.”
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issue → make → theirs
, says Iran
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, on Sunday (August 23, 2026) warned Tehran will see any country’s support for new U.S. economic measures against the Islamic Republic as an “act of war”, while Iran’s President defended the MoU with the U.S.
“If (Trump) wants to do something, we will retaliate in a seismic manner,” he had told the state broadcaster in an interview that aired late on Saturday (August 22, 2026).
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that → say → Saturday
He said Iran would target other oil-shipping routes from the Persian Gulf — alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz.
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Iran → say → Hormuz
His remarks came even though Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said the memorandum of understanding signed in mid-June was the best way to move beyond a situation of “neither war nor peace”, adding that Tehran can’t attract investment nearly six months after the war began.
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war → come → investment
“There is not a single provision in this agreement that amounts to capitulation,” Mr. Pezeshkian said in a speech published by state-run IRNA.
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Pezeshkian → be → IRNA
“The supreme leader sets the policies, and we will follow that path.”
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we → set → path
The interim deal opened a 60-day period for talks aimed at ending the war and reaching an accord on Iran’s nuclear programme.
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deal → open → programme
That period ended last week with no signs of compromise or extension.
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period → end → compromise
The Aporia
