United States President Donald Trump says he will slap a 25 percent tariff on any country doing business with Iran, ratcheting up pressure on its government, which is facing its biggest protests in decades.
Years of Western sanctions have battered the OPEC member nation’s economy, causing high inflation, unemployment and the collapse of its currency, the rial.
The current protests were triggered by the mounting economic woes, which the Iranian government has struggled to address, partly due to its economic isolation.
Its main source of revenue comes from exports to China, Turkiye, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and India.
So how will Trump’s threat on Monday impact Iran’s international trade? How will countries like China, which buys 80 percent of Iran’s oil, respond?
What did Trump say?
“Effective immediately, any country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a Tariff of 25% on any and all business being done with the United States of America,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
“This Order is final and conclusive,” the US president wrote without providing further details.
There was no official documentation about the policy from the White House on its website or information about the legal authority Trump would use to impose the tariffs.
Trump has piled pressure on Iran’s leaders, including by threatening military action.
In response, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that Iran is ready for war if Washington wants to “test” it in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera Arabic on Monday.
“If Washington wants to test the military option it has tested before, we are ready for it,” Araghchi said, adding that he hoped the US would choose “the wise option” of dialogue while warning of “those trying to drag Washington into war in order to serve Israel’s interests”.
Article source: aljazeera.com
