“You Know Who You Are” : Trump’s “Economic D-Day” Alert to the Allies of Iran

As the Middle East conflict approaches its sixth month, US President Donald Trump launched an economic pressure campaign on Thursday, threatening “tremendous” penalties on any nation that aids or conducts business with Iran. He described it as the “most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country” and enumerated a number of actions that must end right away.

“No one has given the Islamic Republic of Iran a greater opportunity to make a Deal than me. TRAGICALLY, for them, they have failed to take it. Therefore, 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,” he said in a Truth Social post.

“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. Oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries, front companies – It all needs to stop NOW,” Trump said without specifying what punishment countries would face.

He didn’t name any country but said “they know who they 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. These maniacs are on the ropes, and these HISTORIC MEASURES will cripple them and their ability to project terror worldwide. IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON,” Trump said.

For months, the US Treasury has been implementing “Operation Economic Fury” with the goal of using targeted sanctions to stop Tehran’s funding. On February 28, a number of Iran’s officials, including then-86-year-old Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, were killed in combined strikes by US and Israeli troops, sparking the start of the Middle East conflict. Iranian soldiers retaliated by attacking Israeli and American assets in the Middle East.

Following the expiration of a temporary 60-day ceasefire agreement on Monday, Donald Trump declared on Tuesday that no negotiations were underway with Iran. “There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated,” he added.

His comments were made the day after Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and special envoy, declared that negotiations with Iran were still ongoing and “probably more robust” than they had ever been.

A 60-day window for a more comprehensive agreement on Iran’s nuclear program and US sanctions was established in a memorandum of understanding agreed on June 17. A disagreement over sovereignty of the Strait of Hormuz, the tiny waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passed prior to the conflict, caused the agreement, which called for the “immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts,” to fall apart very soon.