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US, Iran keep up hostile rhetoric ahead of new sanctions

Reuters · back to the audit

The United States and Iran exchanged defiant messages ahead of Monday's scheduled announcement of new U.S. economic sanctions that could impact the Islamic Republic and Tehran's most important trading partners including China.

"It would be better to end the war today, when we are powerful and have dignity, and the whole world acknowledges our victory and emphasizes that America, contrary to all regulations, attacked our schools, hospitals, and infrastructure and is hated in the world," Pezeshkian said, according to the ISNA news agency.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will hold a press conference at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) on Monday amid promises to reveal "the toughest sanctions in history" on Iran while also urging China to cooperate with Washington.

As the war neared six months old, the two sides were not exchanging fire but also not pursuing peace talks.

"No matter how much military power we have, we won't survive if people are hungry and we don't have financial turnover, economic growth and national production," Qalibaf said, according to official news agency IRNA.

Only four commodity ships sailed along the strait on Thursday.

Trump said Iran "would love to make a deal but they're not ready to make the right deal."