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DUBAI\/WASHINGTON: Iran said on Friday that its response to any new U.S. threats would be \u201cdevastating\u201d after Washington pledged \u200bto impose the toughest financial penalties in history with the aim of toppling the Iranian leadership.<\/strong><\/p>\n U.S. Treasury chief Scott Bessent said he would give details on Monday of the \u200cplanned sanctions, which follow a warning from President Donald Trump of economic consequences against any country that provided \u201cany type of lifeline to Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n The chief of staff of Iran\u2019s Armed Forces, Major General Ali Abdollahi, said the Islamic Republic\u2019s reaction would be broad and decisive.<\/p>\n \u201cWith preparedness across land, sea, air, air defence and cyberspace, Iran\u2019s armed forces will respond to the enemy\u2019s new threats with crushing, punishing and devastating responses,\u201d Abdollahi was quoted as saying by Iranian media.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s parliament speaker, \u200bMohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the country\u2019s main negotiator in mediated talks with the United States, said Washington appeared to have concluded it could not prevail in its direct military confrontation.<\/p>\n \u201cWe must \u200bmake plans to deal with the unjust sanctions so that we can overcome them,\u201d he said in neighbouring Iraq, accusing the U.S. and Israel \u2060of resorting to what he said was economic and \u201ccognitive\u201d warfare.<\/p>\n Oil prices steadied on Friday but were on track for a second weekly rise on concern \u200bover Gulf energy exports. Oil hit a more than three-week high on Thursday after the sanctions threat, intended to force Iran to agree an end to a conflict that has stranded millions of barrels of \u200bMiddle Eastern oil.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not sure why oil has popped up on this,\u201d Bessent told CNBC. \u201cIf we are doing the maximum economic pressure, then that means that likely there will not be a large-scale kinetic restart,\u201d he said, using a term referring to military force.<\/p>\n Just seven commodity ships sailed along the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, half the previous day\u2019s tally, data from shiptracker Kpler showed, compared with more than 130 a day before the war.<\/p>\n Thousands of people have \u200bbeen killed in the war, which has drawn in Gulf nations and raised global fuel prices as Iran has attacked shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which before February carried about a fifth \u200bof all traded oil.<\/p>\n The U.S. and Iran have twice announced ceasefire deals, in April and June, aiming to restore the free flow of ships through Hormuz on a path towards ending the nearly six-month-old conflict, but both \u200cquickly crumbled.<\/p>\n Before Bessent \u2060spoke, Iran\u2019s foreign ministry said U.S. sanctions would not \u201ccreate even the slightest hesitation in Iranians\u2019 determination to safeguard Iran\u2019s independence, dignity and national sovereignty.\u201d<\/p>\n Bessent told CNBC he would \u201ctalk about exactly what we\u2019re going to do\u201d on Iran at a press conference on Monday.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are going to collapse this regime. It is time for our allies and the rest of the world to make a decision,\u201d he said, describing a naval blockade reimposed on Iran in July and the \u201ctoughest sanctions in history\u201d as a \u201cone-two punch\u201d.<\/p>\n Iran has weathered near-continuous, punishing economic sanctions for nearly 50 years, since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, but its \u200bpeople are suffering high inflation, a weakening currency \u200band energy shortages along with damaged infrastructure.<\/p>\n Some \u2060Iranians interviewed by Reuters have said more economic punishment could increase hardship, weaken the clerical establishment and prompt unrest, although there has been no sign of that since a deadly crackdown on protests in January. Offers of Iranian crude \u200bto Chinese buyers have already declined \u2060since the U.S. reimposed its blockade on Iranian ports in mid-July, trade sources told Reuters.<\/p>\n China buys more than 80% of Iran\u2019s shipped oil, according to 2025 data from analytics firm Kpler, but further U.S. economic warfare with Beijing, which has eased earlier restrictions on exports of its vital rare-earth minerals, risks retaliation.<\/p>\n When asked if the U.S. could target China for doing business with Iran, Bessent said many conversations were best held in private.<\/p>\n \u201cKeep \u2060in mind that \u200bthe Chinese get 50% (of their) energy\u2026 from the Gulf. So it would do them a big service to get \u200bwith the program,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n China\u2019s embassy in Washington said \u201csanctions and pressure do not help resolve the problem\u201d, calling for diplomatic means.<\/p>\n Tightening sanctions entails other risks, especially to U.S. allies in the Gulf, whose energy facilities and desalination plants they depend on for drinking \u200bwater have come under Iranian attack.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nBESSENT SAYS MEASURES SHOULD NOT DRIVE UP OIL PRICE<\/h2>\n
Trump is under pressure to end the war, with high fuel prices dragging down his approval ratings and \u200bpotentially threatening his Republican Party\u2019s control of Congress in midterm elections in November.<\/p>\nLATEST US BLOCKADE STARTS REDUCING OIL FLOWS TO CHINA<\/h2>\n