Iran mocks Trump’s ‘economic war’ as it fires back with a problem of America’s own

WASHINGTON, DC: Iran responded to the US’s plan to adopt economic pressure as the new war strategy against Tehran, making fun of America’s staggering debt and expressing confidence that it would fail.

On Wednesday, August 19, President Donald Trump announced a ‘most crushing economic operation’ and ‘economic warfare’ against Iran.

Iran makes fun of the US’s debt in reply to Trump's ‘economic’ threat

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on social media that Trump's "Economic D-Day" is a "a diversion from America's own crisis, unprecedented debt & surging interest costs."

Araghchi was referring to the news this week that the US national debt surpassed $40 trillion. The federal government's debt burden crossed the $39 trillion threshold about five months ago in March.

"Doubling down on failed policies will only bring further defeat, and enmity of Iranians. US economic terrorism threatens the global economy and sovereignty worldwide," Araghchi added.

Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran's deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, said the apparent pivot in U.S. strategy will fail.

"The military war didn’t yield results, so now they’ve named the next failure 'economic war,'" Gharibabadi said in an overnight post on X.

"They claim Iran is on the brink of collapse and hanging by a thread, yet they beg all their allies to help them.”

Trump declared ‘Economic D Day’ against Iran

President Trump threatened Iran with "economic D-Day" on Wednesday, vowing to wield "Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale."

Iran quickly dismissed the threat as a distraction and said it would backfire.

Trump also warned that the US will inflict “Tremendous Economic Consequences" on any country providing Tehran with financial or commercial support.

The announcement comes after a 60-day ceasefire with Iran expired on Monday, August 17, with no sign of a diplomatic or military off-ramp to the conflict.

In a lengthy post on Truth Social, Trump said Iran had failed to take what he described as a major opportunity to reach a deal with the United States. “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,” Trump wrote.

He then announced the new campaign, saying that “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.”