Iran warns of harsh response to expected US sanctions
Iran warned that US sanctions set to be announced would not bring peace to the region. Meanwhile, Israeli and Syrian officials met less than a week after Israeli strikes in Syria.
The Palestinian American whose home in the West Bank was besieged by Israeli settlers earlier this month said he still worried they could attack his home after Israel’s military withdraws.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Monday warned that Tehran would respond harshly to expanded US sanctions, including measures against countries it sees as cooperating with Washington. “Any escalation of this situation will undoubtedly bring about consequences,” Esmail Baghaei said. “Our hands are not tied.”
The prospect of expanded sanctions and Iran’s threat to respond come after weeks of impasse, with the United States having not yet dislodged Iran’s grip on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian attacks and threats have severely hampered traffic through the waterway, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil passed before the war started nearly six months ago. Iran has maintained its demands for reopening the strait - including lifting the US naval blockade, withdrawing US forces from the region and reparations for damages it sustained throughout the war. It has held separate talks with neighbouring Oman on jointly managing the waterway regardless of whether a new deal is brokered with the US.
Sanctions have historically raised the prices of basic goods in Iran, but after years of withstanding them, Iran’s economy has adapted through finding new trading partners and building domestic industries. Ahead of the expected announcement, the country’s currency hit a record low on Monday, with traders anticipating higher prices if tighter sanctions further restrict Iran’s export capacity.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani met over the weekend with a high-level Israeli delegation in Jordan to try to defuse tensions after Israel last week struck an air base in northern Syria, Syrian State news agency SANA reported Monday.
The US-mediated discussions on Sunday focused on restarting negotiations for a future security agreement between the two countries, SANA said. Israel struck the Abu Duhur air base in Idlib province last week, saying that it aimed to stop Turkiye - which has been supporting the new Syrian government’s efforts to rebuild its armed forces after 14 years of civil war — from establishing a presence there. Syrian officials asserted during the talks the right to develop an army and freely forge alliances with any country, the agency said.
They also called for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from a buffer zone in southern Syria that they have occupied since December 2024 and reiterated Syria’s stance that the Golan Heights — which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed — is Syrian territory.
