ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced the “MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION” against Iran, describing the move as economic warfare and warning that any country that provides a lifeline to Iran’s economy will also face “TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences.”

“Today, I am announcing the MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY! This will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale,” the president wrote in a post on Truth Social, citing Tehran’s alleged failure to strike a peace deal with Washington.

“Today, I am also announcing that ANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences,” he added.

Among the activities and mechanisms that Trump said bolster Tehran’s economy are oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries, and front companies, noting they “all needs to stop NOW.”

“You know who you are. This will be an ECONOMIC D-DAY, and we need all of our Allies to stand with the United States of America to isolate, and defeat, the Iran threat,” he said.

The move echoes Trump’s “maximum pressure campaign” on Iran, under which Washington intensified sanctions on Tehran to restrict its nuclear program. The campaign was reinstated in January 2025 following the president’s return to office.

On Tuesday, Trump declared on Truth Social that there are no ongoing or scheduled talks with Iran and insisting that the Strait of Hormuz is "open and operating" and that all mines in the waterway have been cleared.

The remarks came one day after he told Fox News in an interview that US officials were "directly" speaking to representatives of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) via diplomatic backchannels.

Over the course of the conflict, Trump has repeatedly suggested that Washington is in contact with high-level Iranian officials even at times when Tehran has denied the claims outright.

Following the collapse of the US-Iran memorandum of understanding (MoU) in late June after Iran targeted a vessel in the strait for failing to heed its approved routes, Tehran has once more maintained a chokehold on the waterway, directly influencing global energy prices.

Earlier in August, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters that he sees “no possibility” of resuming talks until Washington ends its “violations” of a joint understanding and makes amends.