Iran warned neighboring countries on Saturday against joining the US \u201ceconomic war,\u201d threatening to target their interests and prevent oil exports from the Gulf if they cooperate with Washington.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe tell all neighboring countries not to participate in the economic war with the US; otherwise, we will consider them an enemy,\u201d said Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaee, according to state broadcaster\u00a0IRIB.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe are not seeking to expand the war, but if the countries surrounding Iran join the Americans in the economic war, we will strike their interests,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Rezaee warned that if neighboring countries cooperated with the US campaign, \u201cnot a single drop of oil will leave the Persian Gulf or the Strait of Hormuz.\u201d<\/p>\n He said Iran would also target other routes used to export oil from the Gulf. \u201cIf Trump wants to take action, we will respond in kind with earthquake-like force,\u201d Rezaee said<\/p>\n Rezaee said the Strait of Hormuz remains closed despite US claims to the contrary and would not reopen until Washington \u201ccorrects its behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis time, it is the United States that must first fulfill its commitments,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Rezaee said Iran accounts for more than 50% of the Gulf coastline and that it should therefore manage the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n He added that Iran seeks an end to the war in West Asia and \u201cstands against warmongers around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n US President Donald Trump announced this week his intention to launch \u201cthe most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country,\u201d describing his maximum-pressure campaign against Iran as \u201cEconomic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale.\u201d<\/p>\n Iran emerges as power through resistance, solidarity, Pezeshkian says<\/strong><\/p>\n Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says Iran has emerged stronger through resistance, solidarity and national unity, speaking in an address marking the beginning of Government Week,\u00a0Press TV<\/em>\u00a0reported on Sunday.<\/p>\n \u201cThey sought to turn Iran into another Venezuela, but instead, Iran emerged as a power that amazed the world with its resistance, solidarity and unity,\u201d Pezeshkian says.<\/p>\n He says the Iranian people have achieved \u201csomething remarkable\u201d through their resilience and unity.<\/p>\n Kuwait condemns Israeli drone strike on civilian car near Damascus<\/strong><\/p>\n Kuwait condemned an Israeli drone attack on a civilian car in a village southwest of Damascus that injured several civilians,\u00a0Al Jazeera<\/em>\u00a0reported.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ministry renews its call upon the international community and the Security Council to fulfil their responsibilities in halting the repeated Israeli occupation aggressions against Syrian territories,\u201d Kuwait\u2019s Foreign Ministry says in a statement on social media.<\/p>\n Israel defends the strike, saying it targeted \u201cterrorists\u201d and was carried out in response to \u201can immediate threat to our forces\u201d.<\/p>\n The incident marks Israel\u2019s second reported attack on Syria within a week.<\/p>\n Iran says Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until US changes behaviour<\/strong><\/p>\n Iran\u2019s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Major General Mohsen Rezaei has warned that any country participating in the US-led economic blockade will face consequences,\u00a0IRNA news<\/em>\u00a0agency reported.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the blockade continues, we will not allow a single drop of Persian Gulf oil to leave via any route,\u201d Rezaei said, adding that Iran had not yet targeted US economic interests but that the option remained available if hostile actions continued.<\/p>\n On the Strait of Hormuz, Rezaei said: \u201cThe Strait of Hormuz is closed and will not reopen until the US changes its behaviour and honours its commitments; they must first take concrete action.\u201d<\/p>\n Iran, Egypt FMs discuss regional tensions, efforts to restore stability<\/strong><\/p>\n Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty, discussed the latest developments in West Asia and ways to restore regional stability,\u00a0IRNA news<\/em>\u00a0agency reported.<\/p>\n In a telephone conversation late on Saturday, the ministers exchanged views on developments in the region, including the situation in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea, it added.<\/p>\n They also discussed recent diplomatic efforts to “de-escalate regional tensions” and explored ways to promote “peace and stability” in West Asia.<\/p>\n Iranian president says Tehran will not make concessions<\/strong><\/p>\n Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that Tehran has no intention of making concessions and stressed the need to move beyond what he called a \u201cno war, no peace\u201d situation, Iran\u2019s official IRNA news agency reported.<\/p>\n Pezeshkian said Iranian officials were discussing almost daily how to move beyond the situation and reach an understanding that would preserve Iran\u2019s principles and values, while deterring adversaries from contemplating another attack.<\/p>\n He said war offered no solution, while prolonged uncertainty about whether fighting could resume was also taking an economic toll on the country.<\/p>\n Read:\u00a0<\/strong>Iran’s military remains intact: acting deputy defence minister<\/a><\/p>\n Pezeshkian warned that investment would be difficult to attract as long as the threat of renewed conflict persisted, stressing the need to overcome the situation through logic while maintaining Iran\u2019s strength.<\/p>\n The president also defended a recent memorandum with the US, saying it contained no provision that amounted to capitulation or required Tehran to make concessions.<\/p>\n Iran condemns US plans to announce new sanctions<\/strong><\/p>\n Iran on Saturday denounced US plans to announce new sanctions that could put further strain on the Islamic Republic’s economy and have an impact \u200bon its most important trading partners, including China.<\/p>\n After nearly six months of war since the US and Israel launched airstrikes against Iran on February 28, the sides are not \u200cfiring at each other but also showing no sign of pursuing peace talks.<\/p>\n Oil shipments are at a virtual standstill in the Strait of Hormuz, with Tehran threatening to strike any unauthorised oil tankers that try to transit the vital waterway, and Iran’s economy is already under immense pressure from sanctions.<\/p>\n US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is due to hold a press conference at 2:00 PM on Monday after threatening “the toughest sanctions in history” on Iran.<\/p>\n Bessent has \u200balso urged cooperation with Washington by China, which buys more than 80% of Iran’s shipped oil, according to 2025 data from analytics firm Kpler. Beijing has urged diplomacy.<\/p>\n Iran’s Foreign Ministry \u200bspokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, said on Saturday the imminent US announcement of new economic sanctions was an “assertion of extraterritorial sovereignty over every independent member state of \u2060the United Nations.”<\/p>\n “Such secondary sanctions find no foundation in international law,” he said in a post on X.<\/p>\n The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, told state television that Tehran \u200bwould target the interests of countries helping the United States.<\/p>\n “We are telling all nearby countries not to join the US economic war, otherwise we will consider them as enemies,” Rezaei said.<\/p>\n