Iran strongly criticized U.S. plans to announce new sanctions that could further pressure the country’s economy and affect its major trading partners, including China.
Nearly six months after the United States and Israel launched airstrikes against Iran on Feb. 28, the sides are no longer directly exchanging fire but have shown no signs of moving toward peace talks.
Oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz have almost halted. Tehran has threatened to strike any unauthorized oil tankers attempting to pass through the vital waterway, while Iran’s economy already faces severe pressure from existing sanctions.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is scheduled to hold a news conference at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) on Monday after previously threatening to impose “the toughest sanctions in history” on Iran.
Bessent has also called on China to cooperate with Washington. According to 2025 data from analytics firm Kpler, China buys more than 80% of Iran’s shipped oil. Beijing, however, has called for diplomacy.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the expected U.S. announcement of new economic sanctions was an “assertion of extraterritorial sovereignty over every independent member state of the United Nations.”
