Iran Condemns Trump’s Economic Threats as a Return to Classic Colonialism

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei addressed the situation during an interview in Tehran, Iran, on April 5, as Iran strongly pushed back against US President Donald Trump’s recent threat of an "economic D-Day," condemning it as "a recipe for an abysmal return to full-scale classic colonialism."

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei stated on Friday that the declaration of new economic sanctions by the United States against the country represents an "assertion of extraterritorial sovereignty over every independent Member State of the United Nations."

The US president previously warned of "the MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION" against Iran in a social media statement on August 19, further cautioning that nations continuing to trade with Tehran would face severe economic consequences.

"Economic coercion designed to force a sovereign State to alter its lawful policy choices constitutes an outright internationally wrongful act," Baghaei emphasized in his Friday post on X, adding that "compliance purchases no immunity or respect; it merely concedes that one’s banks, enterprises, and airports operate only under a foreign licence."

State media outlet IRIB reported that the Iranian Foreign Ministry has warned that individuals who order or implement these levies "are liable to prosecution and punishment."