US’s Iran policy has reached ‘pure parody’: Foreign Ministry
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei criticizes the various means through which the United States has been trying to enforce its newly announced restrictive measures against Iran.
“Washington’s Iran policy has reached pure parody,” the official wrote on X on Wednesday, two days after the US announced the measures.
“It (the US) turns to Bahrain - a country with virtually no meaningful economic exchange with Iran - to prove that its ‘coalition’ is working,” Baghaei said.
Iran’s parliament speaker scoffs at US treasury secretary’s contradictory ‘Economic D-Day’ remarks https://t.co/UH4rhzEUAZ
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“It then ‘stops’ Iranian sports and academic exchanges that had already been effectively dead for years,” he added.
“It is sanctioning the already sanctioned and calling the empty space a coalition.”
The comments came after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a new wave of sanctions against Iran under what Washington has called “Operation Economic Outcast.”
Bessent said the campaign was aimed at Iran’s financial networks worldwide and warned that countries and entities maintaining trade ties with Tehran could face secondary penalties.
According to the announcement, the United States has identified entities dealing with Iran and will give them deadlines to cut ties or risk exclusion from the US dollar system.
Criticism inside and outside the US
The new measures have, however, drawn criticism both inside and outside the United States.
China, Iran’s largest trading partner, has rejected the use of sanctions and pressure against the Islamic Republic. Beijing’s Embassy in Washington said that “sanctions and pressure do not help resolve the problem” and called instead for political and diplomatic solutions.
US Senator Chris Murphy has criticized the announcement, describing Bessent’s so-called “Economic D-Day” rhetoric as “desperate window dressing” to mask US military failures. The senator also argued that existing sanctions had already exhausted Washington’s available options and said the new measures would not change Tehran’s position.
✍️ Analysis - The illusion of ‘maximum pressure’: New US sanctions against Iran recycle a failed strategy with same old results
— Press TV 🔻 (@PressTV) August 25, 2026
By Press TV Strategic Analysis Deskhttps://t.co/mWH1RvtVuF
Iran has vowed to target the countries trying to help the United States enforce the new measures.
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