Iran: U.S. economic war is plunder aimed at the whole world... "You could be next"

[Financial News] Iran has strongly pushed back against the United States' economic war on the country, describing it not as sanctions on a specific nation but as an attack on the economic sovereignty of the entire world. Tehran argues that Washington's so-called secondary sanctions on third countries that do business with Iran are a tool to force the international community into submission.
According to Iran's state broadcaster IRIB on the 25th local time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran issued a spokesperson's statement sharply criticizing Washington's recent declaration that "the day of judgment for Iran's economy is approaching."
Esmail Baghaei, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran, said, "Those who blindly follow these illegal measures by the United States may dismiss them as irrelevant, but this is an extremely important issue."
Baghaei compared the United States to a "plunderer" and argued that the impact of sanctions on Iran does not stop at Iran's borders. He said, "When a hegemonic power forces every bank, economic actor, port, airport and government in the world to choose between 'submitting to America's whims' or 'facing American retaliation,' this issue is no longer limited to Iran."
He also argued that U.S. secondary sanctions restrict the economic choices of other countries. If Washington sanctions companies or financial institutions in third countries that do not trade directly with the United States, countries seeking to maintain economic ties with Iran could also face disadvantages in the U.S. market and financial system.
Baghaei framed the issue as one of national sovereignty. He said Washington's behavior "directly threatens the most fundamental principles of international law and the UN Charter: respect for sovereign equality among states and the right of peoples to self-determination."
He added, "A government that values its sovereignty and national interests would never tolerate the normalization of such blatant, systematic illegal acts and heavy-handedness."
He also brought up Canada, which has recently been at odds with the United States. Baghaei claimed, "Canada is also one of the countries that is gradually beginning to feel the harsh reality of U.S. heavy-handedness carried out under the guise of negotiations." The remarks appear aimed at broadening opposition to sanctions on Iran into a wider international sovereignty issue against U.S. unilateralism.
The Donald Trump administration announced new economic sanctions the previous day to cut off Iran's funding sources. The measures, which United States Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent called an "economic isolation campaign," primarily target third countries that trade with Iran in areas such as cryptocurrency, technology, gold, aviation and shipping.
Secondary sanctions are designed not only to punish the direct targets, but also to impose penalties on companies and financial institutions in third countries that do business with them. Washington's plan is to isolate Iran from the international financial and trade network while also blocking other countries from trading with Iran.

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