US 'will achieve nothing' with its economic chokehold, Tehran says

The "United States will achieve nothing" with its new round of economic sanctions, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Wednesday, in another retort from Tehran to Washington's threats of "economic asphyxiation."

"With the measures that the government's economic sectors have foreseen, America will not achieve anything with economic pressure at this stage, just as it was unable to achieve anything in the war," Pezeshkian said, according to ISNA news agency.

"Our principle is understanding and resolving issues through interaction and negotiation, but at the same time, we will stand firm against economic pressures, as we have done so far and will continue to do," he added.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday laid out plans for the "economic asphyxiation" of Iran, warning of dire consequences for countries that do not join the campaign.

Iran's leaders have dismissed the impact of the new measures, having already endured decades-long crippling sanctions introduced shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Negotiations between Iran and the US have stalled as the two sides wrangle over control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Traffic through the vital waterway — which normally carries around a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas exports — remains largely paralysed, disrupting global energy markets.

Iran has controlled Hormuz since the outbreak of the war on 28 February and has sought to impose fees on vessels transiting the strait.

Washington wants the strait to return to its pre-war system of free navigation, and US President Donald Trump has claimed that Washington "has total control" over the waterway.

No more military ships in Hormuz?

Tehran said on Tuesday it would not allow military vessels to transit through Hormuz under an agreement the Islamic Republic is currently negotiating with Oman, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi told state TV late on Tuesday night.

The two countries' top diplomats met to discuss managing commercial shipping traffic in the vital waterway and reached an understanding on Tuesday, according to Gharibabadi.

“If the understanding becomes binding, no military vessel will be permitted to pass through the Strait of Hormuz,” he said. “No military vessel at all.”

Gharibabadi did not provide further details about military traffic, but instead described the proposed commercial route through the strait.

Traffic into the Persian Gulf from the Gulf of Oman would pass entirely through Iranian waters, while the outbound route would pass partly through Iranian waters and partly through Oman’s territorial waters, he said.

The Trump administration told Muscat it opposed parts of the evolving deal, including joint Iranian and Omani management of the exit route from the passage that is critical to global trade.

Trump earlier threatened to bomb "the f*** out of" Oman if it “gets in the way”.