Pressure mounts as US sanctions set to kick in

Iran has threatened to halt all oil exports across the Persian Gulf, as the United States is set to unveil crippling new sanctions on Monday. The upcoming US curbs aim to sever Iran's economic lifelines, following months of protracted yet inconclusive warfare.

For weeks, both sides have refrained from launching military strikes against one another, while substantive negotiations to end the six-month conflict remain stalled.

In a social media post, Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, warned, "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 Gulf."

All eyes are on US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is scheduled to elaborate on Washington's intensified pressure campaign during a news conference on Monday afternoon local time.

"At dawn begins an economic D-Day — the single greatest financial offensive ever marshaled against an adversary," Bessent wrote in a Sunday opinion piece published in the Financial Times.

Iran will never yield to external coercive conditions, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday. "Washington's insistence on failed tactics proves nothing but its hostility toward the Iranian people," he said.

The conflict has killed thousands of people, mostly in Iran and Lebanon, and inflicted severe economic losses. Despite the killing of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran still retains military and drone capability to attack targets in its Gulf neighbors and threaten oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, bringing shipping in the key waterway to a near standstill and pressuring world fuel prices.

The exact state of Iran's nuclear program, which the US and Israel aim to wipe out, remains unknown. Without detailing specific measures, Bessent signaled the US would target "fearful nations" that practice "appeasement" by engaging with Iran's economy and financial system.

"They would do well to consider the consequences of sustaining it," he wrote.

Tighter transit controls

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Sunday dismissed the renewed US threats as an "old bullying tactic", saying that Washington has no choice but to speak respectfully to the Iranian nation, state broadcaster IRIB reported.

On Sunday, the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission approved Article 3 under its Strategic Action to Ensure the Security and Progress of the Strait of Hormuz. The provision mandates service fees for all eligible vessels transiting the strategic waterway under Iranian jurisdiction.

Committee spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said the fees would be collected from vessels belonging to countries permitted to pass through the strait and paid in Iranian rials or another currency designated by Tehran, Iran's state-run IRNA reported.

Iran's newly established Persian Gulf Strait Authority has issued fresh regulatory warnings, saying that 45 vessels found violating transit rules will face penalties including fines, detention and confiscation.

The US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on June 17. The 60-day negotiation window stipulated in the deal expired last week, leaving prospects for a final settlement uncertain.

With formal US-Iran face-to-face talks suspended since the last round held in Switzerland in June, regional mediators, including Qatar, Pakistan and Turkiye, have continued diplomatic efforts.

Pakistan's Army Chief Asim Munir arrived in Tehran on Monday. Baghaei confirmed in a Sunday statement that Munir's visit comes as part of Pakistan's sustained efforts to advance regional peace and stability.

Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi will also travel to Tehran on Tuesday for in-depth consultations with Iranian officials over Strait of Hormuz security and maritime rules, Iran's Foreign Ministry announced.

In a separate development, Iranian Petroleum Minister Mohsen Paknejad told state television on Sunday that a newly discovered onshore gas field in southern Fars Province holds over 200 billion cubic meters of total reserves, and over 160 billion cubic meters could be extracted from the field.

Agencies and Xinhua contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at cuihaipei@chinadaily.com.cn