World / Middle East | By Kamilia Patt
WASHINGTON/TEHRAN — The United States and Iran exchanged increasingly confrontational messages on Saturday ahead of Washington’s planned announcement of a major new sanctions package, deepening an economic confrontation that could reach well beyond Iran to some of its biggest trading partners, particularly China. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected on Monday to detail what Washington has described as the toughest sanctions campaign yet against Tehran, while Iran says secondary sanctions targeting companies and governments outside US jurisdiction have no foundation in international law.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei accused Washington of attempting to extend American authority over other sovereign states by threatening penalties against foreign companies, banks and governments that continue doing business with Iran. He argued that secondary sanctions violate sovereign equality and international norms by attempting to force third countries to abandon otherwise lawful commercial relationships with Tehran.
Washington is presenting the strategy differently. Bessent has urged US allies to participate in an intensified campaign designed to squeeze Iran’s economy and reduce the resources available to Tehran. President Donald Trump has warned that countries providing an economic “lifeline” to Iran could face consequences, potentially placing major Iranian trading partners under significantly greater American pressure.
China is particularly important to the strategy because it has been the dominant buyer of Iranian crude. Washington has already targeted Chinese entities involved in Iran’s oil trade, including independent refiners, and a broader secondary-sanctions regime could force Chinese companies to weigh continued Iranian commerce against their access to the US financial system and international dollar transactions.
The sanctions confrontation comes as direct diplomacy remains stalled. The United States and Iran have twice attempted ceasefire arrangements this year, but neither produced a durable political settlement. Trump has said no new talks are currently planned, while Tehran continues to tie reopening the Strait of Hormuz to American compliance with conditions including an end to hostilities and access to frozen Iranian funds.
Economic pressure inside Iran is already severe. Iranian households are confronting high inflation, currency weakness and declining purchasing power, while disrupted oil exports and restrictions on international financial transactions have reduced Tehran’s room for manoeuvre. Yet Iranian military leaders have simultaneously warned that renewed US threats could trigger a powerful response, showing that economic pressure has so far not produced an obvious Iranian retreat.
The Changer Angle: Washington Is Trying to Sanction Iran Through the Rest of the World
The critical feature of the coming sanctions is that their effectiveness may depend less on Iran’s decisions than on those of other countries. Traditional sanctions restrict American individuals and businesses from dealing with targeted Iranian entities. Secondary sanctions go further by threatening non-US companies with consequences if they continue specified transactions with Tehran.
That turns the confrontation into a test not merely of Iran’s economic resilience but of American financial influence. Washington is effectively asking companies and governments to choose between continued access to Iran and exposure to the much larger US-centered financial system. Tehran’s response — portraying that choice as an infringement on other countries’ sovereignty — shows why Monday’s announcement could become a diplomatic dispute involving China and other trading partners rather than remaining a bilateral US-Iran issue.
There is also a strategic contradiction. Washington argues overwhelming economic pressure could reduce the need for another large-scale military escalation. But if sanctions leave Tehran convinced that negotiations offer no economic escape, greater pressure could instead harden Iranian resistance. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has publicly argued for ending the conflict while Iran can still negotiate from what he calls a position of strength, indicating that a diplomatic constituency remains inside Tehran even as military officials maintain a harder line.
The next major development therefore comes Monday. The crucial question will not simply be how many Iranian entities Washington sanctions, but how aggressively the United States targets foreign countries, banks, refiners and companies that continue dealing with Tehran. If secondary enforcement becomes the centrepiece, America’s economic confrontation with Iran could quickly become a test of how much of the world Washington can persuade — or compel — to participate.