US President Donald Trump has repeated his claim that the Strait of Hormuz is now US territory in a new post on his Truth Social account.
Trump posted an image of the region showing the Strait of Hormuz circled, alongside the caption “NEW US territory”.
This is the second time in a week that the US President has posted the image.
Meanwhile, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Mohsen Rezaei said on Saturday that Tehran would consider any country participating in the United States’ “economic war” to be an “enemy”.
“Any country that participates in implementing economic restrictions against us is considered an enemy,” the Iranian official said.
“We declare to all the countries around us and all the countries of the world: do not participate in the economic war being waged by the United States,” Rezaei told state television, following Washington’s announcement of tougher economic sanctions aimed at increasing pressure on Tehran.
If countries refuse to “distance themselves” from the United States, Iran “will strike their interests”, he added.
“We have not yet attacked American economic interests” and “so far we have only targeted military bases, but if they want to impose economic sanctions on us, the United States has oil and economic companies around Iran and elsewhere, and we will strike them,” Rezaei said.
If Trump “takes action, our response will be like an earthquake”, he concluded.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected to hold a press conference at 2:00 p.m. local time (9:00 p.m. Cyprus time) on Monday, amid warnings that Washington will unveil what have been described as “the toughest sanctions in history” against Iran.
Washington has called on other governments, including Beijing, to participate in efforts to isolate the Iranian economy. China, however, a strategic economic partner of Iran, has criticised the initiative, arguing that US “sanctions and pressure” will not resolve the conflict in the Middle East.
Among Iran’s most important trading partners are the United Arab Emirates, which announced on Tuesday that it was suspending “all trade and financial transactions” with the country until further notice.
Source: Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA)
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