US, Iran keep up hostile rhetoric ahead of new sanctions

The United States and Iran exchanged defiant messages on Friday and Saturday ahead of Monday's scheduled announcement of new US economic sanctions targeting Iran and its trading partners, including China.

The war between the two nations neared six months old, with no direct fighting but no peace talks either.

What are the new US sanctions on Iran?

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will announce new sanctions on Iran at a press conference on Monday, promising what he has called the toughest sanctions in history.

The measures are expected to target Tehran's trading partners, especially China, which buys more than 80% of Iran's shipped oil according to 2025 data from analytics firm Kpler.

What is the problem between the US and Iran now?

China buys more than 80% of Iran's shipped oil, according to 2025 data from analytics firm Kpler, and Beijing has urged diplomacy instead of new sanctions. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Saturday that the impending sanctions amounted to an assertion of extraterritorial sovereignty over every independent UN member state.

"Such secondary sanctions find no foundation in international law," he said in a post on X.

US President Donald Trump, who has warned of economic consequences for any country providing what he called a lifeline to Iran, said on Friday that Washington was watching what happens in the conflict. "They would love to make a deal, but they're not ready to make the right deal, in my opinion," Trump said of Iran.

What is happening with oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz?

The Strait of Hormuz remained bottled up on Thursday, with only four commodity ships sailing through and none of them large crude carriers or liquefied natural gas tankers, according to ship-tracking data. The US has effectively blockaded Iranian vessels in their ports, leaving thousands of seafarers stranded on hundreds of vessels.

Iran has granted permission for a number of Iraqi oil tankers to pass through the strait after repeated requests from Baghdad, state news agency IRNA reported on Saturday. IRNA said the permission was one of Iraq's main requests during a visit to Iraq by Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the US military has helped move a seven-day average of 8 million barrels of oil a day through the strait. That is down from more than 20 million barrels per day before the war, or roughly one in every five barrels consumed worldwide.

How has the war affected Iran's military and economy?

US attacks have severely diminished Iran's economy and devastated its navy and air force, though Tehran retains enough missile and drone capability to disrupt oil tanker traffic and strike regional rivals. Trump has yet to achieve the objectives he set at the start of the war, including dismantling Iran's nuclear program, the state of which remains uncertain since UN inspectors were shut out in 2025.

Thousands have been killed in the conflict, including 168 Iranian schoolchildren on its first day. The US has reported more than 750 military personnel wounded and 18 killed.

The chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, Major General Ali Abdollahi, promised on Friday that Iran would respond to enemy threats with what he called crushing, punishing and devastating responses. President Masoud Pezeshkian, however, called for a diplomatic solution.

"It would be better to end the war today, when we are powerful and have dignity, and the whole world acknowledges our victory," Pezeshkian said, according to the ISNA news agency, adding that America had attacked Iranian schools, hospitals and infrastructure "contrary to all regulations."

Iran's parliament speaker and main negotiator in talks with the US, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, acknowledged the strain on Iran's economy in comments to Iranian and Iraqi businesspeople on Thursday. "No matter how much military power we have, we won't survive if people are hungry and we don't have financial turnover, economic growth and national production," he said, according to IRNA.