Trump threatens to crush Iran with ‘Economic D Day’ - but he is running out of cards to play

NewsWorldMiddle Eastin focusTrump threatens to crush Iran with ‘Economic D Day’ - but he is running out of cards to playThe US president has threatened to impose unprecedented economic punishment on Iran, but experts tell Maira Butt that China may prove a huge obstacleThursday 20 August 2026 14:20 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b3036190","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/trump-iran-economy-sanctions-hormuz-b3036190.html","title":"Trump threatens Iran with ‘Economic D Day’ - but he is running out of cards to play"},"popoverPlacementOverride":"bottom"}CloseTrump says Strait of Hormuz remains open despite ‘effective’ naval blockadeOn The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly international news dispatchEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"pianoFieldName":"receiveOnTheGround","regTitle":"On The Ground","subscriptionGroup":"on_the_ground","subscriptionGroupId":"14806361-6435-4d19-b06e-05326605fb01","pathPrefix":["/news/world/europe","/news/world/middle-east","/news/world/australasia","/news/world/africa","/asia"],"associatedAuthors":["Bel Trew","Sam Kiley"],"title":"On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents","mobileTitle":"Get a weekly international news dispatch","lengthenedMobileTitle":"Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/onTheGround1_1.png","newsletterKey":"receiveOnTheGround","regSourceSection":"Middle Ea...