“It’s the first thing I read every morning.” — Annie Lamont, co-founder of Oak HC/FT, a leading venture capital firm.
1. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US was expanding secondary sanctions on Iran but offered no deadline for Tehran’s trading partners to comply before Washington imposed measures he said could “blow up” the world’s financial system. The US Treasury secretary’s announcement on Monday included warnings that countries would be given “a defined timeline” to end trade with Iran and that entities helping Tehran launder money or evade sanctions could be “cut off from the US financial system”. But the announcement stopped short of sweeping immediate action against countries including China, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Iraq, the republic’s largest trading partners before the Iran war. (Source: ft.com)
2. Iran promised to retaliate against expanded U.S. sanctions that the Americans said would cut Iran’s economic lifeline, with Tehran expressing confidence that major trading partners would resist Washington’s pressure campaign. Before news of the latest sanctions, Iran threatened both a possible military response and further reduction in oil exports from the Gulf in retaliation for any U.S. economic measures. After they were unveiled, Iranian Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh said, “We are fully prepared for the U.S. sanctions.” He told state television, “Naturally, the enemies intend to launch an economic terrorist attack on us, but we also have our own tools and know how to play the game. Our defense is no longer so defensive; the enemies should wait for an attack.” Neither China nor Russia had “accepted” the U.S. measures, he added, predicting that other countries would resist them. (Source: reuters.com)
3. Mr. Bessent’s threat to unleash an “economic D-Day” against Iran risks setting the US on a collision course with China, its main trading partner. But that’s only if Bessent actually follows through on a threat the Trump administration has made before. And many are skeptical he will, especially when it comes to China — which buys around 90% of Iran’s oil — as Washington tries to maintain a fragile trade truce with Beijing and avoid a global economic shock. (Source: bloomberg.com)
4. Long queues have formed at petrol stations around Tehran as the US blockade triggers fuel shortages and spreads alarm among motorists in a sign of the war’s growing strain on the Iranian economy. The rush comes as Donald Trump’s administration outlined a new campaign of what it called “economic warfare” against Tehran, which the Energy Optimisation Organisation — an Iranian state body tasked with managing fuel resources — warned was facing a “critical” shortfall of petrol. (Source: ft.com)
