International Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei slams Trump’s newest menace as a return to ‘full-scale traditional colonialism’.
Printed On 22 Aug 2026
Iran has decried impending United States sanctions as a “full erosion of sovereignty” following US President Donald Trump’s threat to punish any nation doing enterprise with Tehran.
In a put up on X on Saturday, Iran’s International Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei mentioned the US announcement was “an assertion of extraterritorial sovereignty” towards the United Nations’ member states.
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No state can compel overseas banks, enterprises or airports to surrender commerce with Iran, he mentioned.
“The top consequence can be the whole erosion of sovereignty because the foundational foundation of the UN-based inter-State system, and a recipe for an abysmal return to full-scale traditional colonialism,” Baghaei mentioned.
Trump announced on Wednesday the “most crushing financial operation” but towards Iran and mentioned any nation whose establishments interface with Tehran would face “super financial penalties”.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent doubled down on the president’s phrases on Thursday, saying the brand new sanctions regime would “collapse” Iran and that different nations are “both with us or towards us”.
Iranian state media was fast to level out that Tehran has confronted US sanctions for many years. Iranian International Minister Abbas Araghchi mentioned the brand new measures had been “certain to fail”.
“We now have seen this film earlier than,” Araghchi wrote on X, alongside a screenshot of a tweet from former President Barack Obama referencing earlier sanctions in 2012. “Similar bull. Totally different bullies.”
The newest rhetorical back-and-forth comes as peace talks with Tehran have sputtered out. The US Navy has maintained its blockade towards Iran’s ports, whereas oil cargo visitors by means of the Strait of Hormuz has nearly ceased.
Trump informed reporters Friday that his authorities is “seeing what occurs” within the battle.
“They might like to make a deal, however they’re not able to make the precise deal in my view,” the president mentioned.
Whereas the US has blockaded Iranian vessels of their ports, the Strait of Hormuz remained bottled up with hundreds of seafarers stranded on lots of of vessels.
Solely 4 commodity ships sailed alongside the strait on Thursday, none of them giant crude carriers or liquefied pure gasoline tankers, ship-tracking knowledge confirmed.
Nevertheless, Iran has granted permission for a number of Iraqi oil tankers to go by means of the strait following repeated requests from Baghdad, Iran’s state information company IRNA reported on Saturday.
IRNA mentioned acquiring particular permission for Iraqi tankers was considered one of Baghdad’s important requests throughout Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf’s go to to Iraq.
