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Trump announces ‘most crushing economic operation ever’ against Iran
Al Jazeera ^ | August 19, 2026

Posted on 08/19/2026 6:30:10 PM PDT by Red Badger

US president also says any country that trades with Iran will ‘face tremendous economic consequences’.

US President Donald Trump has again threatened Iran with unprecedented economic action, accusing Tehran of failing to seize an opportunity to reach a deal as talks aimed at ending the more than five-month conflict between the two countries remain deadlocked.

In a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, Trump announced what he called the “most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country” against Iran, using his signature all-caps style.

He said Iran had “failed to take” the opportunity to make a deal and would face “economic warfare and isolation on an unprecedented scale”.

Trump also threatened sanctions against any country that does business with Iran.

“ANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences. Oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries, front companies — it all needs to stop NOW. You know who you are. This will be an ECONOMIC D-DAY, and we need all of our Allies to stand with the United States of America to isolate, and defeat, the Iran threat,” he wrote.

This is not the first time that Trump has threatened Iran with economic sanctions.

His administration has waged a pressure campaign against Iran since April under the banner of Operation Economic Fury, designed to isolate Tehran and block its revenue streams.

The US has already imposed sweeping sanctions on Iran’s oil, shipping and financial sectors, seeking to cut off the revenue Tehran earns from energy exports. It has also imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports and targeted companies, brokers and tankers accused of helping Iran sell its oil abroad.

‘Frustration’

Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna, reporting from Washington, DC, said Trump’s latest post showed “a degree of frustration”.

“I think the first question is: What economic pressures can he exert on Iran that are not already being exerted?” he said, adding that there was no clear answer because Trump had given no indication of what measures he planned to take.

“Is this, to the Iranians, another shouting threat? Well, on the surface, that is the case. But perhaps his target audience is an American public that continues to oppose this ongoing conflict. He is now taking what he hopes will be seen in the public forum as a very strong stance, regardless of the fact that we do not have specific details on which to judge the possible efficacy of this particular move to strengthen economic action against Iran,” Hanna said.

Analysts said Trump could target China, as well as Iraq and Turkiye with secondary sanctions.

In China, “he can target the financial institutions that provide services to the independent teapot refineries. Those are the refineries that are the last group still purchasing Iranian oil,” said Nader Habibi, a Middle East economics professor at Brandeis University.

“The challenge is that the Chinese government has warned Chinese entities not to cooperate with US sanctions. Given that trade negotiations are under way between the United States and China, it will be interesting to see how China reacts if, in the next few days, the United States announces specific targets or institutions that cooperate with those teapot refineries,” he said.

Habibi added that it would also be difficult for the US to fully enforce restrictions on Iran’s overland trade with Turkey, Iraq and Central Asia.

“It is only an avenue for achieving full enforcement of sanctions along those borders, with the cooperation of the respective governments.”


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Foreign Affairs; Iran; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: blackpillers; dementia; eeyoresahead; justlikeepicfury; marxistright; mostcrushing; oldman; senile; soundslikecaving; tds; trollrepublic; weaksisters
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1 posted on 08/19/2026 6:30:10 PM PDT by Red Badger
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To: Red Badger

Smoke and mirrors...


2 posted on 08/19/2026 6:32:17 PM PDT by dpetty121263
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To: Red Badger

Yawn….If a tree falls in the forest….


3 posted on 08/19/2026 6:34:44 PM PDT by usafa92 (Donald J. Trump, 45th and 47th President of the United States of America!)
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To: Red Badger

Trump:

“This will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale.

“Their navy is gone, their air force is destroyed, their military factories are now rubble, their currency is worthless, and their country is hanging by a thread.”

“Today, I am also announcing that ANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences.”

Economic D-Day for Iran


4 posted on 08/19/2026 6:35:10 PM PDT by Varsity Flight ( "War by 🙏 the prophesied set before you." ) I Timothy 1:18. Nazarite warriors. 10.5.6.5 These Days)
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To: Red Badger

Blah……..blah……blah…..


5 posted on 08/19/2026 6:43:04 PM PDT by wny
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To: Red Badger

That “ANY country…” comment is a bit odd, to say the least.

Trump alone does not have the power to punish other countries so severely. He’d need the help of Congress and other countries.

He will get neither.


6 posted on 08/19/2026 6:46:48 PM PDT by Leaning Right
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To: Red Badger

I wish he would stop with the bombastic statements and actually just get this done ONE WAY or THE OTHER without having to say ANYTHING. The more he talks, the less I now believe him. His credibility is starting to just wither away.


7 posted on 08/19/2026 6:48:43 PM PDT by LibFreeUSA (how )
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To: Leaning Right

That’s pretty funny! Look who you’re defending.


8 posted on 08/19/2026 6:49:57 PM PDT by Empire_of_Liberty
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To: Empire_of_Liberty

I’m not “defending” anyone.

Congress will not cooperate with this latest move by Trump. And neither will most other countries. That doesn’t mean they’re right.

It just means they will not cooperate.


9 posted on 08/19/2026 6:53:15 PM PDT by Leaning Right
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To: Red Badger

More “news” from Hamas’ press agent.


10 posted on 08/19/2026 6:54:32 PM PDT by Paal Gulli
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To: Varsity Flight

Trump double speak....

Trump:

“This will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale.

“Their navy is gone, their air force is destroyed, their military factories are now rubble, their currency is worthless, and their country is hanging by a thread.”

“Today, I am also announcing that ANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences.”

Economic D-Day for Iran


11 posted on 08/19/2026 6:58:33 PM PDT by dpetty121263
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To: Leaning Right

You say that you are not defending Congress and other countries - fine.

Meanwhile, they all import the third world and dispossess their own citizens. Oh, well.

You are right that they won’t cooperate. That is what Checks and Balances are for.


12 posted on 08/19/2026 7:01:26 PM PDT by Empire_of_Liberty
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To: dpetty121263

LOL,

It’ll never be as quick and the awesome success of the cheap 195 billion dollar Ukraine adventure which served ZERO US security or economic interests.

I think Iran is getting F’d up.

What Trump has done is isolate Iran. Their neighbors were trading with them, but now UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Barhain, Qatar, are out of the picture. Then Trump has blockaded them, and Irans economy is about 23% by GDP and over 50% of the governments revenue from oil and gas sales which are going no where.

Look at reality: Iran as retaliation fired two missiles a day ago, both missed.

When this war began, Iran was chucking as much as 140 missiles, 70 drones, and 30 cruise missiles (((in one night))). Now they fire off 2 missiles and they can’t hit shit.

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/6035824-uae-detects-iranian-missiles/

If Trump is for real, and the water mines are cleared, and we’re willing to escort vessels, I suspect you might see traffic start flowing again.

https://www.roic.ai/news/trump-declares-strait-of-hormuz-mines-cleared-boosting-shipping-confidence-08-18-2026

What other than using bigger words and making more fake AI videos where they pretend to have captured US special forces (what Iran really did), does Iran have left to really apply pressure back at that point? Other than out own MSM, what do they have?

Sure, just smoke and mirrors (sarc).


13 posted on 08/19/2026 7:07:29 PM PDT by Red6
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To: Empire_of_Liberty

This is why I went to Truth Social more. People understand what Trumps doing and the challenges, and are loyal and supportive of him.


14 posted on 08/19/2026 7:08:14 PM PDT by Rennes Templar (Corruption has been built into social welfare for decades.)
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To: Red Badger

It’s like we are listening to Medvedev threatening nuclear war every Tuesday.

Except this is in English.


15 posted on 08/19/2026 7:08:40 PM PDT by Vermont Lt
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To: Rennes Templar

Truth Social is littered with bot accounts that just post meme after meme in the comments talking about how wonderful Trump is. It’s literary a joke, and will go belly-up once Trump’s term is over, but not before the family cashes out the overvalued stock price that’s not backed by any tangible assets.


16 posted on 08/19/2026 7:19:22 PM PDT by usafa92 (Donald J. Trump, 45th and 47th President of the United States of America!)
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To: Red Badger

Problems since the last round of “heavy” “punishing” very des destructive” bombing a few weeks ago is the news media didn’t even report each night except after bigger stories followed by “and in other news, American fighter planes and missiles hit Iranian sites for the fourth day”.

Meaning, the American public didn’t care and wasn’t really impressed. Still want: “when is the war going to be over” and “when will gas at my local pumps be back down in price?”


17 posted on 08/19/2026 7:30:06 PM PDT by frank ballenger (There's a battle outside and it's raging. It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls. )
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To: Red Badger

You captured half the trolls in one post!


18 posted on 08/19/2026 7:38:50 PM PDT by eyedigress (Trump is my President!)
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To: eyedigress

+1


19 posted on 08/19/2026 7:44:27 PM PDT by TigersEye (The Democrat Party - like the love child of La Cosa Nostra and Al Qaeda )
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To: frank ballenger

“when will gas at my local pumps be back down in price?”

When the Russian/Ukraine conflict is settled.

To pay 80 cents more per gallon for a vehicle that gets 25 miles per gallon and is driven 10,000 miles a year costs $320 a year.

On average, American family of four spends about $12,000 on the DoD (~$990 billion/~330 million, each and every year, and with little bellyaching.


20 posted on 08/19/2026 7:45:11 PM PDT by Brian Griffin
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