The Iranian Foreign Minister rejects Trump's threats of "crushing" sanctions and considers them a distraction

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi rejected US President Donald Trump's threats to impose "crushing" economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic, describing it as "an attempt to divert attention from America's internal crisis," and vowed that this step "will only lead to further defeat."

Araqchi wrote in a post on the “X” platform: “The so-called (Economic D-Day) is nothing but an attempt to divert attention from the internal crisis in America itself, which is represented by unprecedented debt and rising interest costs.”

The US federal debt reached a record level of $40 trillion on Tuesday, according to US Treasury Department data, a bleak indicator that means that the United States is spending more on interest payments than it spends on national defense, and 50% more than it allocates to child care programs.

Araqchi added: “Insisting on failed policies will only bring more defeat and win the enmity of the Iranians.”

Araqchi added, "American economic terrorism threatens the global economy and national sovereignty around the world," as he put it.

Global oil prices have remained high since the United States and Israel went to war against Iran in February, closing the Strait of Hormuz. Fears of a fuel supply crisis are increasing with the rapid decline in global reserves.

On Wednesday, Trump pledged to launch “the most crushing economic operations ever against any country,” in a post on the “Truth Social” platform.

Trump also pledged to take strict action against any country that allows its financial institutions, companies, airports, or government agencies to provide any kind of lifeline to Iran. He wrote: “Oil smuggling, financial exchange agreements, cash transfers, exchange companies, ship registration records, and shell companies - all of this must stop immediately.”

The president has suspended all talks with Iran, and CNN reports that his team has informed its political allies that it seeks to fight a war of economic attrition, which it believes will destroy the Iranian economy and force it to surrender.