Iran vows ‘devastating’ response as US threatens toughest ever economic hit

InternationalIran vows 'devastating' response as US threatens toughest ever economic hitBy Reuters -Aug 21, 2026Add ARY News on GoogleAAResizeDUBAI/WASHINGTON: Iran said on Friday that its response to any new U.S. threats would be “devastating” after Washington pledged ​to impose the toughest financial penalties in history with the aim of toppling the Iranian leadership. U.S. Treasury chief Scott Bessent said he would give details on Monday of the ‌planned sanctions, which follow a warning from President Donald Trump of economic consequences against any country that provided “any type of lifeline to Iran.” The chief of staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, Major General Ali Abdollahi, said the Islamic Republic’s reaction would be broad and decisive. “With preparedness across land, sea, air, air defence and cyberspace, Iran’s armed forces will respond to the enemy’s new threats with crushing, punishing and devastating responses,” Abdollahi was quoted as saying by Iranian media. Iran’s parliament speaker, ​Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the country’s main negotiator in mediated talks with the United States, said Washington appeared to have concluded it could not prevail in its direct military confrontation. “We must ​make plans to deal with the unjust sanctions so that we can overcome them,” he said in neighbouring Iraq, accusing the U.S. and Israel ⁠of resorting to what he said was economic and “cognitive” warfare. BESSENT SAYS MEASURES SHOULD NOT DRIVE UP OIL PRICE Oil prices steadied on Friday but were on track for a second weekly rise on concern ​over Gulf energy exports. Oil hit a more than three-week high on Thursday after the sanctions threat, intended to force Iran to agree an end to a conflict that has stranded millions of barrels of ​Middle Eastern oil. “I’m not sure why oil has popped up on this,” Bessent told CNBC. “If we are doing the maximum economic pressure, then that means that likely there will not be a large-scale kinetic restart,” he said, using a term...