Iran's Foreign Ministry condemned U.S. plans to announce new sanctions on Monday, as oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz remained at near standstill following nearly six months of conflict that began when the U.S. and Israel launched airstrikes against Iran on Feb. 28, according to multiple sources.
Iran denounces impending U.S. sanctions as Strait of Hormuz shipping remains severely disrupted
Iran's Foreign Ministry condemned U.S. plans to announce new sanctions on Monday, as oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz remained at near standstill following nearly six months of conflict that began when the U.S. and Israel launched airstrikes against Iran on Feb. 28, according to multiple sources.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is scheduled to hold a news conference at 2 p.m. Monday in Washington, following his pledge to impose measures on Iran that have 'never been seen.' The Japan Times reported that Bessent has also urged China to cooperate with Washington, noting that Beijing purchases more than 80% of Iran's shipped oil, citing 2025 data from analytics firm Kpler.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Saturday that the forthcoming U.S. sanctions announcement amounted to 'an assertion of extraterritorial sovereignty over every independent member state of the United Nations,' adding that 'such secondary sanctions find no foundation in international law.' The secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, warned via state television that Tehran would target the interests of countries assisting the U.S., stating: 'We are telling all nearby countries not to join the U.S. economic war, otherwise we will consider them as enemies.'
U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that Iran 'would love' to make a deal but was 'not ready to make the right deal.' According to the Jerusalem Post, Trump also asserted that the U.S. had total control over the 'entire region having to do with the Strait of Hormuz' and stated that his announcements of economic measures did not mean U.S. military options were limited.
Trump cited Iran's economic difficulties, saying: 'They're not paying their soldiers, they're not paying their police. They have 350 percent inflation.' According to the Jerusalem Post, Iranian state-aligned media outlets quickly rejected the 350 percent inflation figure, calling it a baseless claim with no correlation to economic reality.
On the situation in the strait, the Japan Times reported that only four commodity ships sailed through the waterway on Thursday, none of them large crude carriers or liquefied natural gas tankers, based on ship-tracking data, with thousands of seafarers stranded on hundreds of vessels. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright stated that the U.S. military helped move a seven-day average of 8 million barrels per day of oil through the strait, compared with more than 20 million barrels per day before the conflict — roughly one in every five barrels consumed worldwide, according to the Japan Times.
Iran's state news agency IRNA reported Saturday that Tehran had granted permission for a number of Iraqi oil tankers to pass through the Strait following repeated requests from Baghdad, with the matter described as one of Iraq's main requests during a visit by Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf.
Qalibaf said Iran had received 'numerous messages' from neighboring countries about establishing new regional security arrangements and economic cooperation, without identifying those countries. He accused the U.S. of endangering its regional allies for the sake of Israel, and called for an independent, 'homegrown' regional order.
Iran's armed forces chief of staff Abdollahi visited an underground ballistic missile manufacturing plant, which state television reported on Saturday. He stated that the facility had been able to produce equipment 'superior both in capacities and quality and in quantity' compared with the past.
According to the Japan Times, U.S. attacks have severely diminished Iran's economy and devastated its navy and air force, though Tehran retains sufficient missile and drone capability to impede oil tanker traffic and threaten regional rivals. The same source reported that thousands have been killed, mainly in Iran, including 168 Iranian schoolchildren on the first day of the conflict, while the U.S. has reported more than 750 military personnel wounded and 18 killed.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called for a diplomatic resolution, with the ISNA news agency quoting him on Friday as saying: 'It would be better to end the war today, when we are powerful and have dignity, and the whole world acknowledges our victory.' Beijing has urged diplomacy, according to the Japan Times. Trump stated Friday that Washington was observing 'what happens' in the conflict.
The state of Iran's nuclear program remains uncertain, as U.N. inspectors have been shut out since 2025, according to the Japan Times, which also noted that Trump has yet to achieve stated objectives including dismantling Iran's nuclear program or creating conditions for Iranians to remove their clerical leadership.
Where sources differ
- Trump claimed Iran is experiencing 350 percent inflation; Iranian state-aligned media outlets, according to the Jerusalem Post, rejected this figure as baseless and bearing no correlation to economic reality. The sources do not provide an independent figure.
- Trump asserted the U.S. has total control over the Strait of Hormuz region; Iranian officials have maintained Tehran retains the capability to impede oil tanker traffic through the waterway, and ship-tracking data cited by the Japan Times showed only four commodity vessels transiting Thursday, suggesting the strait is not freely open.
- The actual inflation rate in Iran is not independently verified by any source.
- The specific content of the new sanctions Bessent plans to announce Monday is not detailed in any source.
- Which neighboring countries contacted Iran about new regional security arrangements is not identified.
- The current status of Iran's nuclear program is described as uncertain, with U.N. inspectors shut out since 2025; no independent assessment is available in the sources.
- China's detailed response to U.S. urging for cooperation on Iran sanctions is not provided beyond the characterization that Beijing 'urged diplomacy.'
- Iraq's official response to Iran's granting of tanker passage permissions is not reported.
- Casualty figures, including the reported deaths of 168 Iranian schoolchildren on the first day of the conflict and U.S. military casualties, are sourced only from the Japan Times and are not independently corroborated within the supplied sources.
- No independent verification of U.S. Energy Secretary Wright's claim that 8 million barrels per day are moving through the strait with U.S. military assistance is provided.
- The Japan Times — original — by The Japan Times
- The Jerusalem Post — by JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Read the original at The Japan Times