Trump tightens Iran squeeze, hurting China and India in the process

The TOI correspondent from Washington: US president Donald Trump is preparing to turn his military campaign against Iran into a global economic choke after warning countries providing Tehran with an economic “lifeline” — including through oil purchases, financial institutions, cash transfers or shipping registries — they could face “TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences.”Treasury secretary Scott Bessent is scheduled to unveil what the administration calls an “economic D-Day” designed not merely to punish Tehran but to choke off the foreign trade and financial networks he claims is keeping it afloat. This will involve the broadest use yet of U.S. secondary sanctions against countries, banks, companies, shipping firms and other intermediaries that continue doing business with Iran.The significance is that Washington is moving beyond sanctioning Iran itself to squeezing countries across the globe, including BRICS nations who have a historically close ties with Teheran.