Trump's 'economic warfare' violates international law: Iran
Aug 23, 2026
Tehran [Iran], August 23: Iran said on Saturday that the United States' planned "economic warfare" against Tehran would violate international law.
Banks, companies or airports that fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of one country must not be forced by other states "to renounce lawful commerce with a third State," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei wrote on X.
US President Donald Trump has threatened severe penalties against countries that continue to support Iran as Washington seeks to sharply increase economic pressure on Tehran.
"Economic coercion designed to force a sovereign state to alter its lawful policy choices constitutes an outright internationally wrongful act," Baghaei said.
He argued that such "secondary sanctions" violated the United Nations Charter.
Combined with the US naval blockade of Iranian ports, Trump's plan would reduce the sovereignty of other countries to something "provisional, conditional, and revocable at the whim of another power," Baghaei said.
He warned that the measures risked a "return to full-scale classic colonialism."
Source: Qatar Tribune
