Iran has accused US president Donald Trump of threatening "economic terrorism" after the US treasury said it would introduce the “toughest sanctions in history" against Tehran.
Trump has promised to wage "Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale”, suggesting the US will extend sanctions to allies that have helped mediate peace talks.
"ANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences," Trump wrote.
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent also made a similar warning, calling on allies to pick a side.
"We are going to collapse this regime. It is time for our allies and the rest of the world to make a decision," Bessent told broadcaster CNBC. "You are either with us or against us," he said.
Foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said that further sanctions would only bring “further defeat” to the US and said Trump was seeking to create a “diversion from America’s own crisis: unprecedented debt and surging interest costs”.
Meanwhile, over 750 members of the US military have been injured since the Iran war began, US officials said. More than 50 soldiers were added to the Pentagon’s casualty database on Wednesday, bringing the total figures to 757 injured and 18 killed.
Tehran has vowed to deliver a “crushing” response to the US amid threats of economic sanctions.
“With preparedness across land, sea, air, air defence and cyberspace, Iran's armed forces will respond to the enemy's new threats with crushing, punishing and devastating responses,” chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, Major General Ali Abdollahi was quoted as saying by Iranian media.
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has effectively slowed to a halt again despite President Donald Trump claiming the route is open, according to new data.
On Tuesday, the US leader declared the vital waterway “new US territory” in a bizarre post on Truth Social accompanied by a map.
“The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect,” he continued on the platform. “The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated.”
For more nearly a year, soldiers of the 173rd Airborne Brigade have been experimenting and building their own drones, as well as participating in drills on waging unmanned warfare after Ukraine pioneered such tactics in its yearslong conflict with Russia.
In November, 600 soldiers formed a battalion that specialised in drone warfare and was set up to be used as a dedicated unit that could deploy anywhere drones were required.
Offers to Chinese buyers of Iranian crude have declined and prices have risen this week as a US blockade continues to cut off Tehran’s shipments and the threat of sanctions from Washington, trade sources told Reuters.
The number of offers for Iranian oil cargoes to China for September and October delivery has declined from July and August cargoes, four trade sources familiar with the matter said. The offers have declined as barrels already in ships on the water have been sold, they said.
The US reimposed its blockade of Iran’s shipping and ports on 13 July.
Donald Trump’s Board of Peace published a 15-point roadmap for Gaza in late July in which Hamas would hand its weapons to a committee of Palestinian technocrats, certified by an international verification body, and Israel would withdraw from the strip in phases. After Israel officially rejected the plan on August 9, US envoy Jared Kushner flew to the Egyptian coast to meet Hamas representatives.
From there, he travelled to Jerusalem where it was proposed the weapons would instead be handed over under the supervision of an American general. This change to the disarmament process is a clear illustration of what has gone wrong with each agreement reached over Gaza since January 2025: none have established, in advance, who certifies compliance.
Israel’s far right national security minister is facing a major backlash over the construction of a gallows site to execute Palestinians sentenced to death at a prison in Israel.
Itamar Ben-Gvir posted a video online showing the construction of the facility in an unidentified location, which will include viewing booths for the family members of victims to witness executions.
It follows the passage of a highly controversial “Death Penalty for Terrorists Law” earlier this year that made death by hanging a default sentence for Palestinians convicted in military courts of deadly attacks.
