Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian with Pakistan army chief Syed Asim Munir in Tehran. (August 24)
Day 181 | Iran says US sanctions will achieve nothing
Iran's president insisted on Wednesday that the United States would achieve nothing with its new sanctions campaign after Washington laid out plans to collapse the country's economy.
Almost six months into their war, the two sides are locked in a stalemate, with Iran keeping the key Strait of Hormuz shut and Washington persisting with a naval counter-blockade of Iran.
Under political pressure at home over the impacts of the conflict, US President Donald Trump has pivoted away from military action to economic levers, expanding sanctions and warning of consequences for countries that do not join.
But Iran -- which has already weathered decades of sanctions -- has remained defiant, with officials saying they have a two-year plan to counter the pressure.
"America will not achieve anything with economic pressure at this stage, just as it was unable to achieve anything in the war," Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Wednesday, according to the country's ISNA news agency.
"We will stand firm against economic pressures, as we have done so far and will continue to do."
Iranian army spokesperson Mohammad Akraminia, meanwhile, told state television Wednesday that the military had restored its combat capabilities degraded during the war, with the reconstruction of all damaged weapons systems and the import of new equipment from abroad.
On Monday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had claimed the US had "dismantled Iran's military capabilities, destroyed nearly 100 percent of its military factories, and buried its nuclear programme".
Announcing the new economic measures, Bessent said expanded secondary sanctions would target Iran's digital assets and its technology, gold, aviation and shipping sectors.
US allies warn Hormuz is still mined despite Trump claim: report
US allies are privately cautioning that the Strait of Hormuz remains likely mined, challenging President Donald Trump’s assertion that the US Navy has fully removed and detonated Iranian explosives from the vital waterway.
According to officials familiar with internal assessments who spoke to Bloomberg, American forces have made progress clearing mines in international waters, but have not eliminated all of an estimated 80 to 150 devices Iran laid.
The assessment directly undercuts Trump’s repeated recent statements that the strait is clear.
On Wednesday, he described Hormuz as “a very functioning strait” and told The Glenn Beck Program: “The mines are gone. You probably saw that — we put it out yesterday — all the mines, we got rid of the mines.”
A day earlier, Trump posted on Truth Social that the Navy had informed him “all mines have been removed and/or detonated from within the International Waters of the Strait of Hormuz,” adding that Iran had been warned any vessel placing new mines would be “immediately and systematically destroyed” and that the Space Force was monitoring “every square inch” of the waterway under a “Zero Tolerance policy.”
US officials pushed back against the allies’ view.
One person familiar with the American position said the 80-to-150 figure was outdated.
Centcom spokesman Captain Tim Hawkins stated that “internationally recognized transit routes in the Strait of Hormuz are free of Iranian sea mines.” Centcom declined further comment on mine estimates.
Allied officials noted that demining has grown more complicated because many mines—even those previously identified and laid in clusters—have likely drifted from their original positions due to sea currents.
They argued that restoring commercial shippers’ confidence requires a broader international effort combining sophisticated de-mining equipment with air and naval protection, and that Iran should grant Oman permission to operate in its waters to safeguard vessels.
“It is highly unlikely that all the mines in the strait have been cleared,” said Becca Wasser, Bloomberg Economics defense lead.
“Even if the mine threat was reduced, Iran could still escalate. Numerous commercial vessels are well in range of Iranian drones and short-range missiles—and many are outside the range of US air defense cover.”
Hours after Trump’s announcement, the Joint Maritime Information Center warned of a “continued risk of drifting or uncharted mines” near the traffic separation scheme.
Iran rejected the US claim.
Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the strait remains closed despite a temporary transit agreement with Oman, insisted “no one except Iran knows the location of these mines,” and dismissed Trump’s comments as aimed at calming markets while warning that US mine-detection vessels would become “very good targets.”
Iran and Oman simultaneously announced plans for a joint project to clear mines as part of a framework for a temporary navigation corridor.
The dispute comes nearly six months into the US-‘Israel’ war with Iran that began in late February 2026.
Pre-war, roughly one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas passed through Hormuz; traffic has since fallen sharply, contributing to volatile energy markets.
Trump has pressed claims of restored safety partly to stabilize those markets ahead of November midterm elections, while Admiral Brad Cooper of Centcom earlier reported that US strikes destroyed more than 90 percent of Iran’s estimated inventory of around 8,000 mines in storage.
Tanker hit by unknown projectile in Strait of Hormuz: UKMTO
An "unknown projectile" has struck a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, causing a fire that has since been put out, a British maritime agency said early on Thursday.
"Local authorities have reported a tanker has been hit by an unknown projectile causing fire to the vessel which has since been extinguished," the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said.
VIDEO - ‘Israeli’ army carries out detonation in Bani Hayyan, Southern Lebanon
Footage of detonations and explosions carried out by the ‘Israeli’ military in the town of Bani Hayyan, located in the Marjayoun District of southern Lebanon.
Iran calls US Iran policy “pure parody”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei on Wednesday dismissed recent US sanctions against Tehran as “pure parody,” saying Washington is “sanctioning the already sanctioned and calling the empty space a coalition.”
In a post on X, Baqaei, wrote that the US turned to Bahrain—which he called a country with “virtually no meaningful economic exchange with Iran”—to demonstrate that its coalition is working.
He added that the US then moved to “stop” Iranian sports and academic exchanges “that had already been effectively dead for years.”
Washington’s Iran policy has reached pure parody.
— Esmaeil Baqaei (@IRIMFA_SPOX) August 26, 2026
It turns to Bahrain - a country with virtually no meaningful economic exchange with Iran - to prove that its “coalition” is working.
It then “stops” Iranian sports and academic exchanges that had already been effectively dead…
The comments came a day after the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control indefinitely suspended several general licenses under Iran sanctions regulations.
These included General License F, which had authorized certain professional and amateur sports activities and exchanges, and General License G, covering academic exchanges and related educational services.
Other suspended authorizations covered some third-country educational activities, conference services, and noncommercial personal remittances.
A temporary wind-down license runs until September 8.
The suspensions formed part of a broader package of new US economic measures announced around August 24, which US officials described as an “economic D-Day” or “Operation Economic Outcast.”
The steps expand pressure on Iran’s oil, banking, digital assets, technology, gold, aviation, and shipping sectors and threaten secondary sanctions on entities dealing with Tehran. Bahrain’s finance minister discussed the measures with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, according to Bahraini state media.
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Read more: Day 180 | Iranians queue for petrol after US announces new sanctions
