Desperate Washington turns economic war into economic terrorism

Donald Trump’s latest declaration of economic warfare against Iran reflects Washington’s frustration after decades of sanctions, threats and coercive measures failed to force Tehran to surrender its sovereignty.

Trump has presented it as an unprecedented economic operation while threatening governments, financial institutions, companies, airports, shipping networks and other actors maintaining commercial or financial channels with Tehran.

The extravagant language surrounding the escalation exposes a contradiction because, if successive sanctions, maximum pressures, military threats and direct force had succeeded, the US would have little reason for another campaign.

The confrontation predates Trump and the Islamic Republic, reaching back to the 1953 coup when Washington and London helped overthrow Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh after his government nationalized Iran’s oil.

That episode remains central to Iranian perceptions of Western power because it established a historical pattern in which sovereign control over national resources collided with foreign governments pursuing strategic and economic interests.

The legacy of that intervention survived the monarchy’s collapse and shaped the Islamic Republic’s understanding of economic sovereignty, closely linking national independence with political self-determination and resistance to external control.

After the 1979 revolution, the US imposed successive restrictions as diplomatic relations collapsed, eventually constructing an extensive sanctions architecture covering trade, finance, investment, technology, energy, shipping and international banking.

American control over dollar-based financial networks gave Washington extraordinary leverage over foreign companies and institutions, allowing policymakers to penalize international actors maintaining relationships with Iran.

Yet sanctions have repeatedly failed to achieve political capitulation, as Iran has absorbed substantial costs while preserving strategic positions Washington sought to change.

The 2015 nuclear agreement provided perhaps the clearest evidence that confrontation was not inevitable, as Iran accepted significant nuclear restrictions in exchange for sanctions relief and greater international commerce.

Trump’s withdrawal from that agreement in 2018 destroyed that opening and restored sanctions under maximum pressure, seeking reduced Iranian oil revenues and broader concessions concerning foreign policy and national security.

Iran nevertheless adapted to renewed pressure, preserving economic activity under increasingly difficult conditions and demonstrating that hardship does not automatically translate into political surrender.

Iran possesses structural advantages that make external domination impossible, including more than 90 million people, extensive oil and gas reserves, a large domestic market and substantial human capital.

Its economic potential extends beyond hydrocarbons because decades of education have produced engineers, scientists, physicians, researchers, entrepreneurs and skilled workers whose accumulated knowledge cannot simply be removed through sanctions.

Domestic industries and technological institutions have likewise developed under difficult conditions, enabling Iran to manufacture, maintain and adapt numerous essential goods while reducing dependence on foreign supply chains.

Unmasking US-Israeli terrorist bombing of Iran's drug factories

Iran built a pharmaceutical base producing cheap, high-quality medicines, breaking Western monopolies, so the US and Israel bombed its drug factories and the Pasteur Institute.

Geography provides another enduring advantage because Iran links the Persian Gulf with Central Asia, the Caucasus and wider Asian markets while bordering the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.

Washington can sanction an Iranian bank, threaten an international company, restrict financial markets or obstruct Iranian oil exports, but no executive order can relocate Iran from its strategic geographic position.

American sanctions likewise cannot erase Iran's population, eliminate its accumulated human capital or make its enormous natural-resource endowment disappear, regardless of the severity of financial and commercial restrictions.

The deepest paradox of America's Iran policy is that every attempt to increase Iran's dependence upon Washington simultaneously creates incentives for Tehran to reduce precisely those vulnerabilities.

Financial restrictions encourage alternative payment arrangements, while limitations on imported technology encourage domestic development and restrictions on investment encourage alternative sources of capital and commercial partnerships.

Attempts to isolate Iranian energy exports similarly encourage diversification of markets and trading relationships, particularly with countries prepared to maintain economic connections despite American pressure and secondary sanctions.

Trump’s latest measure is particularly revealing because its reach extends beyond Iran, threatening third countries and commercial actors whose relationships with Tehran become targets of American pressure.

Washington is therefore turning a bilateral confrontation into a wider commercial war while seeking to compel governments, banks and companies to subordinate legitimate economic interests to American strategic preferences.

Trump's rhetoric reflects a broader misconception about economic power, namely the assumption that extraordinary financial leverage ultimately allows the US to compel any country to accept Washington's preferred political settlement.

After more than four decades, American economic power has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to impose costs, but not to dictate Iran’s strategic choices.

Successive pressure campaigns have failed to produce the political outcomes Washington sought, while encouraging Iran to strengthen economic resilience and reduce dependence on vulnerable international channels.

The latest campaign of economic terrorism is set to encounter the resilience that has frustrated previous campaigns, while Iran converts decades of adaptation into productivity, investment and technological advancement.

Iran is increasingly positioned to withstand and ultimately quash the latest economic offensive, turning Washington’s pressure campaign into an impetus for stronger economic independence, broader prosperity and greater national capacity.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir