‘Compulsive addiction to sanctions’: Iran mocks Trump admin’s ‘suffocating’ threat
Iran late Monday mocked the Trump administration’s reliance on economic sanctions, warning that Washington’s repeated attempts to squeeze Tehran are less a strategy than an “addiction” that could ultimately leave the US with fewer options to end the crisis.Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei took aim at US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent after he claimed that American sanctions were “suffocating” Iran. In a post on X, Baqaei dismissed the claim and accused Washington of turning to economic pressure whenever it failed to achieve its objectives through diplomacy.“The US Secretary of the Treasury has boasted of “suffocating” Iran through economic sanctions. Beyond its sheer pathos, the claim is a stark testament to America’s compulsive addiction to sanctions,” Baqaei wrote.“Whenever Washington proves itself incapable of pursuing diplomacy, it retreats into sanctions; and whenever those sanctions fail to produce results, it simply increases the dose. This is no longer ‘policy’—it is ‘habit’; and more dangerously still, it is an addiction that has displaced thought itself,” he added.Baqaei’s remarks came after Bessent said Washington would continue increasing economic pressure on Tehran. In a post on X on August 7, the Treasury secretary said Iran’s use of digital assets and shadow banking networks showed that “Economic Fury is working”.“The Iranian regime’s reliance on digital assets and shadow banking networks is further evidence that Economic Fury is working. We will continue to increase the economic pressure. Whether in dollars, rials, or crypto, Treasury will hunt down and dismantle the illicit financial networks that keep the regime afloat,” Bessent said.Baqaei, however, warned that the continued use of sanctions could hurt Washington’s own position rather than force Tehran to capitulate.“Iran has demonstrated over decades that it will not be strangled by these exhausted refrains. The real risk is that American politicians, clinging to this bad habit, will instead strangle their own remaining chances of a less humiliating exit from a crisis of their own making,” he said.The exchange comes amid an escalating confrontation between Washington and Tehran, with the Strait of Hormuz and sanctions emerging as key sticking points in any potential negotiations. Iran has demanded that the US end its blockade of Iranian ports, lift sanctions and release frozen Iranian assets, while also seeking compensation for damage caused by US and Israeli bombardment.US President Donald Trump has rejected Tehran’s demand for reparations and instead called for Iran to compensate Americans killed or wounded in conflicts involving Iranian-backed groups. Trump said he had instructed US representatives to include the demand in future negotiations.The dispute has further complicated efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s traded oil supplies passed before the war.
