US President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a meeting with cryptocurrency executives in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on Aug. 19, 2026.
Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images
President Donald Trump said the U.S. will launch what he called the “most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country” against Iran, threatening severe financial penalties on any nation that helps Tehran evade sanctions.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said that “this will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale.”
“No one has given the Islamic Republic of Iran a greater opportunity to make a Deal than me,” and that “TRAGICALLY, for them, they have failed to take it,” the president said.
Iran’s navy, air force, and military production facilities have been destroyed and its currency rendered worthless, arguing the regime is “hanging by a thread,” Trump claimed.
He said any country whose financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities offer Iran a “lifeline” will face what he described as tremendous economic consequences of their own.
The president named oil smuggling, currency swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries, and front companies as channels he wants shut down immediately, stressing that Iran will never be permitted to acquire a nuclear weapon.
The announcement extends a pressure campaign the Trump administration has waged since April under the banner Operation Economic Fury, aimed at cutting off what it terms the regime’s global terror financing and revenue streams.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has accused Washington of escalating sanctions after previous rounds failed to force Tehran into submission, calling the approach a barrier to any negotiated exit from the conflict.
The escalation comes a day after the United Arab Emirates — one of the most important commercial partners for Iran— suspended all trade and financial dealings with Tehran, following what it said were two Iranian ballistic missiles fired at the Gulf state. Iran denied launching the missiles, calling the claim a “false flag.”
Stock futures were slightly higher after Trump’s announcement, with S&P 500 futures gaining less than 0.1%.
