Iran warns any country joining US sanctions considered ‘enemy’

TEHRAN

Women walk past a portrait of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and images of the Iranian flag, on a sidewalk in downtown Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. (AP Photo)

Iran has warned countries against participating in the United States’ “economic war” against the Islamic republic, saying they would be considered enemies.

Washington has pushed its allies to jump aboard Donald Trump’s new campaign to isolate the Iranian economy, as the U.S. President’s unpopular war drags toward the six-month mark.

“We declare to all countries... do not join the economic war waged by the United States,” said Mohsen Rezai, the head of Iran’s supreme national security council, on state television.

“Any country participating in the imposition of economic restrictions against us is considered an enemy,” he added.

If the countries concerned refused to “distance themselves” from the U.S., Iran would “harm” their interests, he added.

Rezai also insisted that the Islamic republic had more cards to play in the war, claiming that “we have not yet attacked any American economic interests.”

“So far, we have only targeted military bases, but if they want to impose economic sanctions on us, the United States has oil and economic companies around Iran and elsewhere, and we will strike them,” Rezai threatened.

Should Trump “take action, our confrontation will be like an earthquake,” he added.

Washington has also called on other governments to join its efforts to isolate the Iranian economy, notably Beijing, among Iran’s top strategic partners.

But China has criticized the initiative, arguing that American sanctions would not resolve the conflict in the Middle East.

One of Iran’s major trading partners, the United Arab Emirates, announced on Aug. 18 that it was suspending all trade and financial transactions with Tehran until further notice.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian acknowledged on Aug. 23 that his country’s citizens face “many problems,” after the U.S. launched the new wave of sanctions seeking to further isolate its economy.

“I understand we have many problems in society right now. We are trying to prevent these as much as we can,” Pezeshkian said in a speech broadcast on state television.

“We are striving with all our hearts to overcome inflation, livelihood problems, unemployment and to secure the future of the people, so that they can live with dignity and pride,” Pezeshkian said.

The Iranian government has faced several waves of mass protest in recent years, often triggered by economic hardships, including inflation and exchange rate swings leading to declining purchasing power.

At the end of December last year, a protest movement initially sparked by the rising cost of living turned into mass demonstrations denouncing those in power.