Iran's government said on Friday (28) that the new economic sanctions imposed by the United States amount to a "crime against humanity" and "state terrorism", called for action by the United Nations (UN) and vowed to respond. The information was reported by Poder360, based on a Reuters dispatch.
The American offensive began on Monday (24), when the US Treasury Department launched Operation Economic Exiles, billed as an "economic D-Day" to cut off funding sources for the Iranian government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the regime's elite military force. The measure sanctioned nearly 60 individuals, companies and vessels tied to the oil, missile, nuclear technology, cyber and shipping sectors, along with networks used to evade earlier sanctions. In the same week, the Treasury punished Egypt's state-owned Banque Misr for doing business with Iran, restricting its dollar operations in the United Arab Emirates.
Secondary sanctions reach partners, and Brazil is watching
Washington warned that countries that keep trading with Iran may also be sanctioned, spreading the impact far beyond Tehran. The message matters to partners such as Brazil: Iran, which joined the Brics bloc in 2024, is a buyer of Brazilian corn and soybeans, a trade that agribusiness outlets like Canal Rural have been tracking with concern since the war began. An escalation of secondary sanctions tends to raise the cost of paying for and shipping those exports, even without a formal ban.
Inside Iran, the pressure is already showing in the numbers. Annual inflation hit 66% in July, according to Reuters, and foreign trade fell by almost 35% because of sanctions and the naval blockade, according to President Masoud Pezeshkian. Facing the risk of protests, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei banned public gatherings that could undermine "social cohesion", asked the government for measures to contain the economic impact of the war and told officials to avoid statements that could fuel demonstrations.
Maximum pressure instead of a deal
The new measures add to a web of restrictions built up since 1979, the year of the hostage crisis at the US embassy in Tehran, as CNN Brasil detailed. The 2015 nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), suspended most of the penalties, but Trump pulled the United States out of the agreement in 2018, and UN sanctions were reimposed last year through the mechanism known as snapback. According to the broadcaster, dismantling that architecture would take years even with a comprehensive deal. With this week's offensive, the Trump administration signals it is betting on maximum economic pressure to shape negotiations over Iran's nuclear program, while Tehran appeals to the UN and promises a response.