Top Iran official says US focus on economic warfare shows it has failed militarily
Iranian officials have dismissed recent U.S. threats of 'economic D-Day' as a sign of military failure, labeling the strategy as economic terrorism. The U.S. continues to tighten sanctions on Iran's oil sector, threatening secondary sanctions against any nation that facilitates trade with the country.
Why it matters
Escalating economic warfare between the U.S. and Iran threatens global oil stability and increases geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
The Iranian regime has dismissed President Trump's threats to crush the country economically, saying that years of U.S. sanctions have failed.
On Friday, Iran's parliamentary speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the country's main negotiator with the U.S., said Trump's threat of an "economic D-Day" showed Washington was unable to prevail militarily.
"The Americans and the Israelis have realised that they cannot handle Iran…in the field of a hard military war, so they have entered into a cognitive war and an economic war," he said during a visit to neighboring Iraq.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had also condemned Trump's announced pivot to economic warfare, calling it 'economic terrorism' meant to divert attention from U.S.'s economic problems. He said in a social media post that doubling down on failed U.S. policies would further increase anti-American sentiment.
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