US economic pressure bites as Iran hardens threats over Hormuz

The United States is entering the “endgame” of its confrontation with Iran,Tr easury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday, pledging to sever every remaining economic lifeline to Tehran in what he described as an “economic D-Day.”

“At dawn begins an economic D-Day — the single greatest financial offensive ever marshalled against an adversary,” Bessent wrote in an opinion piece for the Financial Times.

Bessent said the campaign would target countries and entities that continue to buy or transport Iranian oil, facilitate financial transactions, host Iranian flights, maintain ship registries or enable seaborne fuel transfers.

He warned that countries maintaining such links risk sharing Iran’s economic isolation, arguing that “total financial isolation” could remove the need for further US military action.

The objective, Bessent said, was to “sever every economic lifeline” sustaining the Islamic Republic until Tehran was left isolated.

Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority has warned that vessels violating Tehran’s rules for passage through the Strait of Hormuz could face fines, seizure or confiscation on future voyages.

“In light of violations by certain vessels of the Iranian arrangements for transiting the Strait of Hormuz, these vessels will face restrictions in their future transits,” PGSA Iran said in a statement on X, listing possible measures including “fines, seizure, or confiscation.”

The authority warned that vessels cooperating with ships deemed noncompliant could also be added to its list of violators.

Cargo owners seeking removal from the list would have to submit a request with supporting documentation, it said.

Commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained at reduced levels over the past 48 hours, with single-digit numbers of vessels transiting in both directions, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said.

The activity “continues to demonstrate Iran’s intent to assert presence along key transit lanes and maintain pressure on transiting vessels,” it said.

Commercial traffic through the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb Strait also remained reduced following the July 20 naval blockade against Saudi Arabia by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group, UKMTO added.

Iran will treat any country’s participation in or support for the US economic campaign against Tehran as an act of war and could halt all oil exports from the Persian Gulf, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Mohsen Rezaei said on Sunday.

“If the economic war continues, not a single drop of oil will be exported, neither through the Strait of Hormuz nor from anywhere in the Persian Gulf,” Rezaei said on X.

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

US House Speaker Mike Johnson said he expected the Iran conflict to enter a new phase soon and believed allied countries would help the United States bring it to an end.

“I think we’re going to get into a new phase here very soon,” Johnson told Fox News. “I believe our allied nations are going to assist in the next phase, and we’ll get this finished.”

“People know we took the head off the snake,” he said. “We had to make sure the largest state sponsor of terrorism does not have a nuclear weapon. That was an objective of every administration for the last 50 years. Donald Trump did it.”

Johnson also said oil was continuing to move through the Strait of Hormuz but described mistrust of Tehran during negotiations as a challenge.

“You can’t trust the Iranians on the other side of the negotiating table. That’s the challenge,” he said.

As of Sunday, US forces have redirected 70 commercial vessels, disabled three and boarded two while enforcing the naval blockade against Iran, US Central Command said.

The Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee spokesperson said on Sunday that the panel had approved a provision that would allow Tehran to charge ships from countries authorized to transit the Strait of Hormuz for maritime and other services.

Article 3 forms part of the proposed Strategic Action Plan for the Security and Sustainable Development of the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf, which would establish a legal framework for Iran’s management of security, shipping and services in the waterway.

“Under this article, fees will be charged for services we provide, including navigation, environmental, insurance and safety services, refueling under special circumstances and other services,” Hassan Ghashghavi said.

“These fees will be collected from ships belonging to countries authorized to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, in rials or any other currency designated by the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he added.

Ghashghavi said the article had been deferred at the committee’s previous meeting before being approved on Sunday.

He said international recognition of freedom of navigation should be accompanied by respect for the security, sovereignty and rights of countries bordering the strait.

“The Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz have their own particular rules and circumstances,” Ghashghavi said, citing Oman’s declaration after joining the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea that its provisions should not undermine the country’s national sovereignty or security.

The bill must still pass a vote in parliament and receive approval from the Guardian Council before becoming law.

Pet shops in Iran are operating illegally under their current licenses, Abbas-Ali Motalebi, head of Iran’s Veterinary Council, said.

“Over the past decade, keeping pets has become common among many families,” Motalebi said. “As a result, businesses known as pet shops began offering services to them, but the Veterinary Council considers this activity illegal.”

Motalebi said pet shops were currently receiving licenses from florists’ and hairdressers’ unions and, in some cases, chambers of guilds, although permits should instead be overseen by the Veterinary Council.

“Pet shops are not permitted to sell pet food, medicine or supplements,” he added, saying those products must be sold by pharmacies supervised by veterinary hospitals or by stores licensed by the council.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have prepared responses to US economic measures and can maintain trade despite Washington’s pressure, Guards spokesperson Hossein Mohebbi said at a news conference on Sunday.

“We have repeatedly announced that we have a scenario for every hostile action by the enemy,” Mohebbi said. “We have plans to counter the adverse effects of the enemy’s economic war.”

Mohebbi described US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a new economic campaign against Iran as an “implicit admission” that Washington had failed militarily.

“We have economic interactions right under America’s nose. We circumvent America, and you will see the results in the near future,” he added.