Iran expressed its challenge to the “economic landing” announced by US President Donald Trump yesterday (Thursday), and showed signs of preparedness to confront it.
Trump had revealed a move to narrow financial, oil, and commercial outlets for Iran, as an alternative strategy to military escalation. He declared “economic war and isolation on an unprecedented scale,” and threatened countries and institutions that help Iran financially, oil, or commercially with “massive economic consequences.”
Trump described the campaign as an “economic landing day,” a metaphor from the Normandy landings during World War II. US Treasury Secretary Scott Besent said that the campaign aims to “collapse” the regime, noting that he will announce, on Monday, a plan according to which Washington will impose “the toughest sanctions in history” on Tehran, putting the allies and China before the choice of “either with us or against us” in isolating it economically.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry described the sanctions as “economic terrorism.” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that the campaign is an extension of “failed” American policies.
Representative Ibrahim Rezaei called for withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Central Bank President Abdel Nasser Hemmati acknowledged that Iranian oil exports were halted, expressing his hope that the memorandum of understanding would be revived and negotiations resume.
The three Arab parties in Israel officially announced that they have reached a final agreement to fight the electoral battle scheduled for next October 27 with a joint list, in an effort to have “stronger” Arab representation in the Knesset.
The Democratic Front for Peace and Equality, the National Democratic Rally, and the Arab Movement for Change issued a joint statement in which they said, “This partnership comes out of our awareness of the depth of the fascist and racist challenges and dangers that target our existence, our rights, and our just causes, and the belief that confronting them requires the broadest political and electoral unity.”
The leaders of these parties, Youssef Jabareen, Sami Abu Shehadeh and Ahmed Al-Tibi, confirmed that they had overcome the differences that had prevented unity until now and agreed on all the technical and political details.
They said in their joint statement issued on Wednesday evening: “Our mission is to invest our collective qualitative weight and translate it into stronger representation in the Knesset, which defends our dignity, places the interest of our Palestinian people and their national principles at the center, and transforms the will of our masses into a political force capable of overthrowing the fascist right-wing government led by Benjamin Netanyahu, and its project based on discrimination, war, aggression, demolition, and crime.”
She added: “Our unity is our most powerful weapon to seize our collective national and civil rights, and to continue our struggle for change, just peace, ending the occupation, and for a better future for our people.”
The three parties called on citizens to rally broadly around the Joint List and to launch strongly into the electoral battle.
Disagreements and concessions
The Secretary of the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality, Amjad Shubita, pointed to disagreements that led last weekend to the failure of the coalition, but he said: “The agreement comes in accordance with the decision of the Reconciliation Committee with some concessions made by the three components, out of national responsibility in the face of the grave challenges facing us.”
He added: “We concluded a final session of dialogue, through which we completed the constructive dialogue that took place in recent days... This session culminated in agreement on all points so that we could proceed to work.”
Deputy Secretary-General of the National Rally, Youssef Tatour, said: “We have crossed four long and difficult years. They were full of challenges, pressures and moments that required a lot of patience and responsibility.”
He continued: “We are proud of the political partnership we have built with the Front, and our ability together to overcome differences and disparities when the interest of our people is the compass and above all else. We appreciate (the Arab Movement for Change) joining this partnership, which opens the way for a joint and strong move towards the people and the field.”
He continued: “We are heading towards fateful elections, perhaps one of the most important and dangerous electoral battles we have fought in many years. The ongoing war of extermination in Gaza, the displacement operations in the West Bank, the occupation’s practices and attacks in Jerusalem, and violence and crime are greater than the calculations of parties and seats.”
He added, "We are facing a stage that will determine many features of the future of our people and our society, in the face of a fascist right that seeks to deepen racism, exclusion, and persecution, and in light of unprecedented challenges facing our people everywhere they exist."
Ahmed Al-Tibi addressed the head of the “Unified Arab List,” Mansour Abbas, to join the list of the three Arab parties, expressing his hope that “the tripartite will turn into a quartet that brings together Arab political forces.”
He said: “The goal was never a position or a ranking of names, but rather to unite ranks, raise the voting rate, restore people’s trust, and build a political force capable of confronting racism, overthrowing policies of injustice and discrimination, and preserving the rights and future of our society.”
Unified Arab List
On the other hand, the “Unified List” chose to run in the elections on an independent list, and confirmed that it is coordinating with other parties and political parties in Israel to cooperate in overthrowing Netanyahu’s government and forming a government that will establish a partnership with it “for the good of the Arabs and their interest in equality.” Representative Walid Taha said, during an election festival in Kafr Qasem, that the “Unified Arab List” chose to be “a key player on the field in order to influence the benefit of the Arab community, and not to remain on the bench.”
He stressed that the “unified list’s” approach is based on participation and influence in decision-making centers, in a way that serves the issues and needs of Arab society.
The leadership of the two lists decided to begin negotiations soon to agree on the form of cooperation between them in the elections, first in the direction that there be a connection between the two lists with the surplus votes so that no Arab vote is lost, and that a charter be signed in which they pledge “a clean election battle dominated by a discourse of honorable competition in which they refrain from rhetoric of defamation.”
Opinion polls have shown that the formation of the Joint List would raise the Arab voter turnout and raise Arab representation from 10 to 13 seats. This leads to an increase in the weight of Arabs in political life, making it difficult to ignore them, especially in light of polls indicating that the Netanyahu government will lose a quarter of its strength, and that the opposition parties will outperform it.
After about six months of war, Tehran seems less willing to wait for a settlement with Washington and more inclined to raise the cost of continuing the confrontation across the Strait of Hormuz and threatening offensive operations and changes in security leadership. Analysts believe that this shift is based on the calculation that counter-military and economic pressure may push the United States to accept Iranian conditions and return to negotiation, according to Agence France-Presse.
Since the start of the US-Israeli strikes on February 28, Iran has presented its attacks on the United States, Israel, and the Arab Gulf states as a response to the strikes it was subjected to. But military officials have begun to speak publicly about giving greater priority to the attack.
This trend appeared in the changes made by Iranian Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on August 9 and 10, when he filled key security and military positions with veteran and loyal figures belonging to the Revolutionary Guard, after a number of their occupants were killed during the war.
The appointments included Mohsen Rezaei as Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Hussein Taeb as Commander of the Basij, Ahmed Vahidi as Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Guard, along with Ali Abdullah as Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces.
Mojtaba Khamenei has been in power since the killing of his father, Ali Khamenei, at the beginning of the war, but he has not appeared in public since taking office, and his health condition and the extent of his influence remain unclear.
Jason Brodsky, policy director at the United States-based Center Against Nuclear Iran, said that these appointments “indicate a more risk-ready and more confrontational stance.”
He added that it “shows that Iran believes that it will remain in a war mode for the foreseeable future,” considering that Khamenei has restored the “old guard” in the “Revolutionary Guard.”
Changing Washington's calculations
The leadership change coincides with faltering communications with the United States after the collapse of the memorandum of understanding signed in June, and Washington re-imposing its blockade on Iranian ports and oil exports.
Ahmad Zeidabadi, an international relations expert based in Tehran, said, “The Islamic Republic believes that the United States has likely abandoned the war, and now wants to perpetuate the status quo,” while counting on strangling Iran economically.
He added to Agence France-Presse: “Therefore, they believe that they must resort to offensive action to force them to accept the Iranian conditions (...) and begin a new round of negotiations.”
The Strait of Hormuz is at the heart of these calculations. Tehran requires ships to obtain a permit and pay service fees to cross, a step opposed by Washington and countries in the region, while reopening the strait has become an American priority.
US Vice President J.D. Vance said last week that the “number one” goal is to keep energy prices low for Americans, while preventing Tehran from possessing a nuclear weapon came in second place.
President Donald Trump's initial demand for Iran's "unconditional surrender" was not included in the memorandum of understanding signed on June 17, which Iranian officials presented as a "victory."
Iranian chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said last week: “We have won this war in the literal sense of the word, militarily and politically.”
Iran suffered heavy losses, including the killing of former guide Ali Khamenei and a number of senior leaders, but its political system remained in place, while the intensity of fighting declined as intermittent exchanges of fire continued, especially around Hormuz.
The war also extended throughout the region, with renewed confrontations between the pro-Iranian Houthis in Yemen and the government and its ally, Saudi Arabia, and the accompanying new disturbances in shipping traffic in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
“The Old Guard” for a longer confrontation
The selection of new characters holds indicators of how the next phase will be managed. Rezaei, the former commander of the Revolutionary Guards, had previously threatened in April to sink American ships in Hormuz if Washington decided to “impose security” in the Strait.
Rezaei said in June that every American attack would be met with a “flood” of missiles. As for Taeb, who led the Guards’ intelligence for about a decade and a half, he returned to the forefront through the leadership of the Basij.
Brodsky said that Taeb's appointment "also reflects the Iranian ruling establishment's fear of renewed unrest with the deterioration of the economic situation," suggesting that the Basij will play a leadership role in suppressing future protests.
Vahidi is the third commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Guards in less than a year, after the killing of Muhammad Pakpour on the first day of the war and Hussein Salami during the June 2025 war. Abdullah is responsible for coordinating the work between the regular forces and the Revolutionary Guards.
Abdullahi warned in June that if the United States attacked Iran again, it would “receive a harsher response than before,” and that the flames of war would become “more widespread and far-reaching.”
In late July, Iranian media presented the attack on an American base and command center in Jordan as an example of the new strategic approach.
Hussein Kanaani Moghadam, an international relations expert and former general in the Revolutionary Guards, said that the strategy may take other forms, including “a combination of cyberwarfare, psychological warfare, intelligence, and economic warfare.”
But going on the offensive carries great risks. Zaidabadi warned, “If this threat is serious (...) the outcome of a scenario like this will be disastrous for Iran and the region.”
The impact of the leadership restructuring on diplomacy remains unresolved after the sixty-day deadline for reaching an agreement has passed. The talks have so far been led by Ghalibaf, who has come to be seen as less hardline than the figures who were restored to the heart of the security apparatus. But this bet carries the risk of the pressure designed to bring Washington back to negotiating spilling over into a broader confrontation.
