NYT: Iran may respond to US sanctions with military force

Iran may respond to the intensified economic pressure of the US with further military action rather than accept Washington’s demands to limit its nuclear program and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, The New York Times reports.

The outlet said Iranian officials have rejected the latest US sanctions announced by the Trump administration, vowing to withstand further economic pressure as tensions between Tehran and Washington continue to rise.

According to Iranian Finance Minister Seyed Ali Madanizadeh, the country was prepared to cope with efforts by Washington to further isolate Iran from the global economy.

“The government has a two-year plan for the country’s economic affairs, and all matters have been covered in this plan,” he stressed in an interview with state media after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the new measures.

“Sanctions are not new” to Iran, he added.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps also dismissed the new US economic campaign, noting it would primarily hurt the Iranian population.

“By waging economic warfare and imposing multilayered sanctions, the enemy seeks to sow despair, put pressure on people’s livelihoods and undermine social trust,” the Guards Corps remarked in a statement carried by Iranian state media.

Bessent said the United States had sanctioned more than “60 entities, individuals, and vessels across the world that enable the Iranian regime to procure illicit nuclear and missile technology, conduct cyber operations, and generate oil revenue.”

In his words, Washington would soon take further steps to “collapse every last option for Iran.”

According to Bessent, the latest measures target five key areas through which Iran operates abroad: “digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping.” He added that the campaign “will gather force with every day that follows.”

President Donald Trump has threatened Iran with “economic warfare and isolation on an unprecedented scale” and warned countries doing business with Tehran that they could face severe penalties.

Iran’s main trading partners include China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. The UAE confirmed last week that it was suspending trade and financial transactions with Iran.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf dismissed the US campaign as “bombast,” arguing that Washington was not in an economic position to further restrict its relations with other countries.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry also maintained that Tehran would resist the latest pressure. Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei made clear that the Trump administration was merely “repeating methods that have proven unsuccessful.”

“Iran will certainly use all multilateral capacities to counter economic sanctions,” he told reporters.

Meanwhile, senior Iranian official Mohsen Rezaei warned that Tehran could retaliate against U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf if the economic campaign continued.

“If the US-led campaign continued, 'not a single drop of oil will be exported' from the region,” he wrote on social media.

“Iran will regard any country’s participation in or support for America’s economic war against the Iranian people as an act of war,” Rezaei emphasised.

Gulf Arab states have already faced Iranian retaliation amid the U.S.-Israeli campaign, including drone and missile attacks on American bases and disruptions to oil and gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov