窈窕淑女

US unveils new sanction intended to strangle Iran’s economy as conflict drags on; Tehran vows tough response_我的网站

超凡蜘蛛侠

一 | 立秋过后，位于秦皇岛市北戴河新区的华北最大潟湖七里海，碧水丰盈，水鸟嬉戏。

Drivers queue at a petrol station to refuel in Tehran, on August 25, 2026. Photo: VCG
As military strikes and diplomatic negotiations have both failed to bring an early end to the roughly six‑month‑old US-Iran conflict, Washington rolled out new sanctions against Tehran on Monday local time intended to further strangle its economy. Iran, for its part, has vowed a tougher pushback.
In a news conference on Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent threatened new sanctions on countries refusing to cut economic ties with Iran, following recent rhetoric from Washington threatening an "economic D-Day" for Iran.
Meanwhile, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) under the US Treasury announced secondary sanctions on nearly 60 entities, individuals, and vessels in multiple jurisdictions which, according to the US' claims, enable Iran's activities, including so-called nuclear and missile technology procurement, cyber operations, and oil-revenue generation networks.
According to Reuters, those sanctions targeted businesses in China, the UAE, Singapore and several other countries, including a cooking-oil refinery in France, but did not include any of the Chinese financial institutions suspected of facilitating Iran's oil trade.
In response to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent laying out plans for economic asphyxiation of Iran, expanding Washington's secondary sanction threats and warning of dire consequences for countries that do not join the campaign, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a press briefing on Tuesday that China has made clear on many occasions its firm opposition to illicit unilateral sanctions that have no basis in international law or the authorization of the UN Security Council.
"Economic warfare and maximum pressure provide no solution. On the contrary, they only serve to fuel tensions and lead to risk spillover, which will disrupt the global economic and financial order, and harm the legitimate rights and interests of other countries," the spokesperson said.
The pressing task is to facilitate the deescalation of the situation and return to dialogue and negotiation as soon as possible, Lin said, adding that China will do everything necessary to firmly safeguard its rights and interests, Lin added. Lin also said China's cooperation with Iran is conducted within the framework of international law, thus should not be disrupted.
When asked whether China has received any such timeline, as the US stated it would give countries a timeline on when to shut down the actions that it has identified, and how China intends to respond to the relevant announcements by the US Treasury involving China-based entities and individuals, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian stated on Tuesday that China is closely following the developments, and will do everything necessary to firmly safeguard our rights and interests.
In May this year, China's Ministry of Commerce issued a blocking ban prohibiting any recognition, enforcement or compliance with US sanctions imposed on five Chinese companies on the grounds of their alleged involvement in Iranian petroleum transactions.
Relying on its financial hegemony and long‑arm jurisdiction, the US enforces unilateral sanctions with no basis in international law. Such measures severely undermine fundamental consensus for international trade and erode the existing international order, Zhou Mi, senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
In essence, Washington is imposing its Iran‑focused policies to enterprises across the globe, compelling third‑party actors to fall in line with its diplomatic objectives, Zhou noted.
The latest sanctions would affect a broader range of countries, industries and firms. They will not only draw wider opposition from the international community, but also boomerang on the interests of US‑owned enterprises, he added.
Fewer levers left
"We are launching an economic onslaught against Iran's financial connections around the globe," Bessent claimed at a press conference. "Our objective is to sever every economic lifeline" that sustains the country, he said, according to a Treasury release.
The US Treasury Department said in a release that the new sectoral sanctions determinations target five critical sectors - digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping - that the US claimed Iran has relied on to support its economy.
US Treasury claimed that "any entity that facilitates money laundering or sanctions evasion on behalf of Iran risks being cut off from the US financial system."
OFAC also suspended several general licenses that previously authorized certain remittance payments to Iran and Iranian access to the US cultural and academic system. The office also issued additional guidance on the so-called sanctions risks of bowing to Iranian demands related to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Mohammad Mokhber, an aide to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, said in an X post on Monday that Iran's response to US sanctions and pressure will be "more decisive than before."
Iranian Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh said that Tehran "is and was ready," with a two-year plan to counter Washington's new sanctions. He told state television that "it seems they wished to suffer yet another defeat," per an AFP report.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf responded in an X post that "the Americans know no one will believe their nonsense," noting that the US is not in a position economically to restrict its relations with other countries.
Alan Eyre, a distinguished diplomatic fellow at the Middle East Institute, told NBC News that after six months of combat, the US government "has few remaining levers it can use to convince Iran's major trading partners to materially reduce their economic ties."
While Washington's maximum‑pressure campaign may deliver short‑term shocks to Iran's economy, it can hardly "strangle" the country completely, said Liu Zhongmin, a professor at the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University.
He added that Iran's economic resilience cannot be underestimated. Having borne decades of crippling sanctions from the US and Western nations, Tehran has built substantial experience in sanction‑busting and developed coping mechanisms ranging from basic‑industry self‑reliance and regional trade networks to oil‑for‑goods swaps and non‑US dollar‑denominated trade. Furthermore, the Strait of Hormuz remains a source of strategic leverage for Iran to push back against US pressure.
The expert said that Tehran and Washington are encountering "a battle of wills," and Iran believes the economic costs the US would suffer from a Hormuz blockade would outweigh the damage inflicted on Iran by sanctions.
Washington's "economic strangulation" policy risks ending in failure unless it yields short‑term outcomes, particularly securing the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, Liu added.
Self-created dilemma
As the US ramps up pressure on Iran, Americans are growing averse to a protracted war.
According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Monday, US ‌public approval of the war with Iran fell to its lowest level since the conflict's early days, with just 31 percent of Americans supporting US military action.
On June 18, the US and Iran signed an MoU, under which the two were scheduled to hold negotiations within a period of 60 days, which ended on August 17, to reach a final agreement. However, the talks' fate remains unclear following renewed escalation between the two countries.
Iranian political analyst Mostafa Khoshcheschm told Al Jazeera that the new US sanctions intended to create an "economic onslaught" were a "political show" of intimidation.
Liu said that by resorting to an "economic strangulation" tactic after miring itself in a fruitless military quagmire over Iran, the US has laid bare its practical predicament and strategic dilemma, and seemingly running out of cards.
Citing sources, CNN reported earlier this month that the US military has exhausted nearly 80 percent of its interceptors for a key missile defense system as senior US military commanders are warning that the Pentagon's munitions stockpile is "dangerously low."
Faced with depleted ammunition stockpiles and insufficient military‑industrial capacity, and amid growing domestic criticism of its Middle East policy, the White House has opted for tough economic measures against Iran, Liu said. "Less costly than military coercion, such moves help Washington strike a tough posture before voters and shun political risks from further military escalation," said the expert.
There is, however, an increasingly obvious paradox in Washington's economic warfare against Iran: the tighter the sanctions, the tighter global energy supplies become, and the higher costs borne by American consumers and businesses, the expert added.
。水岸上，修复后的植被郁郁葱葱，仿佛将这片湿地拥入怀中。蓝绿交织间，尽显生态之美。这是北戴河新区践行“绿水青山就是金山银山”理念的生动缩影。潟湖，是指被沙嘴、沙坝或珊瑚分割而与外海相分离的局部海水水域。

二 | 去年，七里海潟湖生态减灾案例入选自然资源部和世界自然保护联盟发布的《海岸带生态减灾协同增效国际案例集》。“近几年，丹顶鹤、白琵鹭、小天鹅等珍稀鸟类都回来了，来七里海潟湖拍鸟的人也越来越多。”当地摄影爱好者费明健日前对记者说。看着远处鸟儿飞翔、嬉戏、捕食，听着不时传来的鸣叫声，73岁的费明健感到很欣慰：“以前的七里海可不是现在这样，那时候过度开发，湖面大大萎缩，鸟儿也少多了。

三 | ”就在十多年前，这里还是养殖池塘密布、水质恶化的另一番景象。当地以传统海洋捕捞、滨海水产养殖和种植业为主，还有造纸厂等污染较重的企业，致使生态系统遭到破坏，也制约着滨海旅游业的发展。从2016年起，北戴河新区开始推进全域环境综合整治，大力实施海岸带生态修复，持续提升生态环境质量。秦皇岛市北戴河新区管委会副主任李鹏介绍，新区统筹污染治理、生态修复，系统实施蔚蓝、碧水、净土专项行动，全域淘汰燃煤锅炉、关停散乱污企业、封堵入河排污口，近年来国控河流、近岸海域水质优良率保持100%。

四 | 依托“蓝色海湾”整治行动，实施七里海潟湖湿地生态保护修复工程，退养还湿、清淤疏浚、修复岸线，逐步恢复了水清树绿的生态湿地景观。修复后，七里海潟湖的水面扩大了，归来的鸟儿也多了。北戴河新区分两批清退了七里海内的养殖厂房、围堰等构筑物，使潟湖面积扩大至853.47公顷，是修复前的3倍。区域生态功能得到改善，大型底栖生物个体密度平均值由修复前的每平方米20.71个增加到60.83个，鸟类由85种增加到165种。“每年10月至11月，丹顶鹤、白鹤会来七里海落脚觅食。12月左右，成群的灰鹤就会到这里越冬。

五 | ”费明健说，这个候鸟南迁路上的“补给站”越来越热闹了。

六 | 生态治理好了，也带来了良好的经济与社会效益。北戴河新区发展生态文旅、生态农业、现代海洋牧场等绿色产业，实现生态保护与产业富民良性循环，去年年底被生态环境部命名为“两山”实践创新基地。

七 | 8月10日上午，蔚蓝天空下，阿那亚社区的白色礼堂临海而立，孤独图书馆面朝碧海，沙丘美术馆藏于金沙之间，游客们纷纷拍照打卡。阿那亚品牌中心媒介负责人袁梦瑜说：“很多客人第一次来是因为从网上看到的美图，但年年来，生态品质是重要原因之一。超七成回头客把‘自然环境优美、空气清新’列为重要理由。”利用海洋、沙滩、森林、湿地等生态资源，北戴河新区近年来推进大健康度假疗养产业项目近200个。北京游客张静每年都会和家人一起来北戴河新区避暑。她说：“蓝色的大海、金色的沙滩、白色的鸥鸟、绿色的槐树林……来七里海，来北戴河新区，就是来享受一场多彩的康养游。”今年1至7月，新区景区共接待游客175.09万人次，同比增长6.35%；景区门票收入同比增长14.01%。生态红利不仅流向景区和社区，也流进了海洋牧场和乡村土地。传统渔场转型现代化海洋牧场，4家单位获批国家级海洋牧场示范区，投放礁体超43.6万空方，投放各类苗种超5000万单位，海域生物多样性显著提升。生态农业品牌效应成效显著，“留守营大米”凭借醇香味道成为备受游客青睐的“伴手礼”。