Iran's security chief says countries joining US economic campaign will be treated as enemies
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The Facts
- Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said countries joining the US economic campaign against Iran would be considered an "enemy".
- Rezaei said Iran would first ask such countries to stay out of the conflict, then target their interests if they refused.
- Rezaei said no oil would leave the Persian Gulf if neighbouring states joined the US campaign, and that alternative export routes would also be targeted.
- Rezaei said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States fulfils its commitments and changes its behaviour.
- Rezaei made the remarks in an interview with Iranian state broadcaster IRIB, his first since his appointment to the security council.
- US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called on allies and other countries to stop doing business with Iran ahead of announcing new sanctions.
- Trump posted a map on Truth Social on Sunday describing the Strait of Hormuz as "NEW US Territory", repeating an image he first shared on 18 August.
- Iran has kept the Strait of Hormuz closed since the war began on 28 February, granting selective transit to some vessels including Iraqi oil tankers.
- Rezaei accused Trump of increasing global nuclear insecurity and driving other countries to seek nuclear weapons.
- Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran had not compromised on any clause of the memorandum of understanding signed with the US.
Context
Why does the Strait of Hormuz matter in this dispute?
It is a chokepoint for global shipments of oil, natural gas and other supplies NDTV. Iran has kept it shut since fighting began on 28 February and requires vessels to obtain permission and pay fees to transit NDTV. Tehran has allowed selective passage, including for some Iraqi oil tankers CNN International,Hindu, while France and Saudi Arabia are expected to discuss routes that bypass the waterway Hindu and Iran has held talks with Oman on an alternative shipping route cnbctv18.com.
What US measures is Iran responding to?
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was due to announce new sanctions on Monday, having said Washington could impose "the toughest sanctions in history" and urged allies and other countries to choose sides and stop doing business with Iran MoneyControl,RT. Trump has said he will pursue "Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale" Independent. Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei called the planned measures an attempt to assert "extraterritorial sovereignty" MoneyControl.
What is the memorandum of understanding both sides refer to?
The US and Iran signed a memorandum in June following the war that began on 28 February, when the US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran MoneyControl,Daily News and Anal…. Rezaei says the strait will not reopen unless Washington meets its obligations under that memorandum cnbctv18.com, while Pezeshkian has defended it and denied Tehran conceded on any clause mint,Daily News and Anal…. There has been little progress toward peace talks since MoneyControl.
Where Left and Right agree, and where they split
Left and right largely agree on this one.
- Where Left and Right agree
- Both call Rezaei's threats against neighbours indefensible, reject the "NEW US Territory" map as posturing, and want Hormuz reopened by negotiation rather than deepening economic siege.
- Where Left and Right differ in emphasis
- Left and right both oppose drafting other governments into the sanctions fight — they part on why.
- Why they won’t converge
- This is a values divide over what American power is for — preventing coercion's costs from falling on civilians and bystander states, versus husbanding finite leverage for a deal — so both can call the same sanctions and the same map wrong for opposite reasons.
- Watch for
- Bessent's sanctions package, due Monday, and whether the countries courted by it sign on: watch the Egyptian effort to revive Iran-US talks and the France-Saudi discussions on routes bypassing the strait.MoneyControl, The Hindu
How left and right read it
The cost of an economic war lands first on people who never chose it — including the neighbouring states now warned their interests will be targeted, their oil kept from leaving the Gulf. Pressing other governments to cut off business with Iran deepens that exposure while the strait stays shut, yet the escalation is dressed up as a map declaring Hormuz American territory. That is fantasy, not strategy. Threats against neighbours and shipping are indefensible; so is answering them with more economic siege instead of negotiation.
“Donald Trump doubled down on his fanciful view that the strait of Hormuz was a new US territory.” — The Guardian
American power is finite, and should not be spent conscripting governments into a fight they did not pick. Asking allies to cut off business with Iran ahead of new sanctions hands Tehran its pretext: Rezaei has said any country that joins becomes an enemy whose interests are targeted. The strait stays closed; reopening it by deal, not by maps calling Hormuz "NEW US Territory," is the outcome worth our power.
An economic campaign only bites when other governments sign on. That request is where left and right both stop, each for reasons of its own.
The receipts — all 97 sources
Independent coverage (50)
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