Iranian officials have dismissed President Donald Trump’s threat to launch what he called  the “most crushing economic operation”against Tehran, as the nearly six-month war enters a new phase of economic pressure and negotiations between the two countries remain stalled.  

Trump announced the campaign late Wednesday, threatening consequences for countries that continue to provide Iran with access to global trade and financial networks. 

“This will be economic warfare and isolation on an unprecedented scale,” he said. “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.”

Trump did not specify what specific measures would be imposed on countries that continue to do business with Iran. TIME has reached out to the White House for comment.

The President also called on U.S. allies to impose additional restrictions on Tehran in order to “cripple them and their ability to project terror worldwide.”

“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 said. 

D-Day commonly refers to June 6, 1944, Allied landings on the beaches of Normandy, France, which opened a major Western front against Nazi Germany. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday the United States ​will impose "maximum economic pressure" on Iran.

"It ⁠is a one-two punch. We have the blockade (on Iran), and we are going to have the toughest sanctions in history," Bessent told CNBC. "It is going to work in Iran and we are going to collapse this regime."

How Iran responded

Iranian officials rejected Trump’s threats and instead pointed to the strains the conflict has placed on the U.S. economy.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called the move a “diversion from America's own crisis: unprecedented debt & surging interest costs.”

“Doubling down on failed policies will only bring further defeat—and enmity of Iranians. U.S. economic terrorism threatens global economy and sovereignty worldwide,” he said Thursday morning.  

The U.S. national public debt surpassed $40 trillion threshold this week.

Iran's deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi similarly took aim at Trump’s rhetoric, arguing that the President’s threats have become less relevant as the conflict, which began on Feb. 28, approaches its six-month mark.

“They claim Iran is on the brink of collapse and hanging by a thread, yet they beg all their allies to help them! The problem is the wrong calculations that, each time to cover them up, they’re forced to create a bigger failure for themselves,” he said Thursday on social media. “The military war didn’t yield results, so now they’ve named the next failure “economic war”.”

Trump has repeatedly used maximalist rhetoric during the war, previously warning that a “whole civilization would die” if Iran failed to meet a deadline for a deal in April and, more recently, weighing a "massive attack” against Tehran at the end of July.

Neither threat resulted in the action that Trump initially described.

The latest warning came a day after the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a major regional trading hub with Iran, announced that it would suspend trade with Iran following reported missile strikes.

Since the start of the war, the U.S. has imposed additional heavy economic sanctions on Iran as part of a “maximum pressure” campaign intended to restrict funding for Tehran’s military capabilities.

Some Iranian officials have responded by calling for the country to abandon its international nuclear commitments. 

“The best response to Trump's escalation of the economic war is to withdraw from the NPT,” said Iranian member of parliament Ebrahim Rezaei.

The NPT, also known as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, is an international agreement aimed at stopping the spread of nuclear weapons.

The Islamic Republic of Iran signed the treaty in 1968 and ratified it in 1970, committing as a non-nuclear-weapon state not to manufacture or acquire nuclear weapons.

Trump has repeatedly cited preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon as a justification for U.S. military action 

“They have to get rid of it completely. They have to get rid of nuclear weapons. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Trump repeated Wednesday during the unveiling of the new White House helipad.

Where U.S.-Iran negotiations stand

Trump’s renewed economic threats come as negotiations between Washington and Tehran appear to have stalled amid disagreements over the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), signed by both countries on June 17.

The document outlined commitments aimed at ensuring the full, toll-free reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and established a  60-day cease-fire intended to allow technical talks to take place, including over Iran’s nuclear capabilities. Before the war, roughly a fifth of the world's global petroleum liquids consumptions passed through the waterway.

But  Washington and Tehran have since offered differing interpretations of the agreement, and fighting resumed before the diplomatic process produced a broader settlement.  

The dispute over the Strait has since reignited, with Iran releasing a list of six key demands that it says the U.S. must meet before the waterway can reopen.

Senior Iranian lawmaker Ebrahim Azizi on Thursday reiterated one of Iran’s demands to end America's “presence in the region immediately” and warned that “any further mistake or miscalculation will carry consequences far greater than before.”

Trump has dismissed the demands and instructed his representatives to seek compensation "for all of the people" that Iran has "killed and gravely wounded with their roadside bombs and many conflicts."

The 60-day threshold has now passed and there is  little sign of a renewed cease-fire agreement.

Trump has also increased pressure on Oman, a longtime U.S. security partner that had reportedly been nearing a deal with Iran over  commercial shipping through the Strait, repeating threats to bomb the country

“If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the sh-t out of them,” Trump told Fox News reporter Trey Yingst on Monday.

China could present an even greater test of Trump’s economic strategy. The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission stated that the country remains Iran’s largest trading partner and the primary buyer of Iranian oil.

When asked whether the sanctions would target China, Bessent responded: “Many conversations are best to have in private, and we are confident that everyone wants the Strait (of Hormuz) re-opened, and for energy prices to come back down,” adding “it would do them a big service to get with the program.”

Trump’s warning that countries doing business with Iran could face economic consequences raises questions about how the policy could affect Beijing as Chinese President Xi Jinping prepares to visit the U.S. next month. 

The U.K. government has indicated its willingness to reconsider its digital services tax amid increasing pressure from the Trump Administration.

The concession came in response to an interview published Monday in which U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told The Times that President Donald Trump’s threats to scrap a trade deal with Britain and impose a 100% tariff were “not a bluff.”

When asked if the interview might lead Downing Street to change its stance on the tax, a government spokesperson told TIME, “We remain open to discussing U.S. concerns and working with partners internationally.”

The digital services tax imposes a 2% levy on the revenues of “search engines, social media services, and online marketplaces which derive value from U.K. users.” Several other European countries, including Portugal, Spain, and Poland, have also implemented similar taxes.

Greer said Britain was using American companies as “piggy banks” and that he was “not going to tolerate that.”

“We have very good relations with the U.K. We’ve had very constructive relationships, we’d love to keep talking to them about this issue. The President is quite serious about digital services taxes all over the world,” he said.

Read More: Why Trump Is Threatening to Impose a ‘Big Tariff’ on the U.K.

“This tax is about making sure that businesses pay their fair share of U.K. tax based on the value they derive from U.K. activities. It is an interim measure, and we are still committed to removing it once a global solution is in place,” the spokesperson said, adding that both countries “share a strong trading relationship.”

A White House official tells TIME that “the Administration continues to address digital services taxes and other tech issues with our trading partners.”

Rising trade tensions between the U.S. and the U.K.

The U.K. and the U.S. agreed to a “groundbreaking” Tech Prosperity Deal in September 2025, which was expected to bring billions of dollars in investment from U.S. tech companies into the U.K. technology sector.

However, relations between the two countries have splintered since the onset of the Iran war.

"This is not Winston Churchill we're dealing with," Trump said of former British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the height of tensions in March, as he accused the former U.K. leader of "ruining" relations.

Trump later warned the U.K. that he would implement a “big tariff” in April if the country did not drop its digital services tax on U.S. tech companies. And in June, he threatened to impose a 100% tariff on imports from any country that taxes digital services provided by U.S. companies.

“This tariff will supersede trade deals made with the country, whether implemented, signed, or not,” Trump said June 26.

The Trump Administration has not yet made any official tariff announcements linked to these threats.

However, the U.K. government, which has recently come under new leadership, has signaled that it is open to discussions.

Burnham aims to bridge relations between the two nations

Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who took office in July, has indicated intentions to mend the relationship between the two countries.

Asked whether there was a deadline for discussions with the new Burnham government, Greer declined to set one, instead emphasizing cooperation with the U.K.

“I don’t set artificial timelines. All I know is the President is eager to enforce our trade policy, he’s eager to make sure our companies aren’t discriminated against,” he said.

Since taking office, Burnham has appeared keen to repair relations with Trump. The two have spoken by phone, and Burnham extended an invitation for Trump to visit Manchester in the future—where the 2027 G20 summit is rumored to be taking place and where Burnham served as mayor before becoming Prime Minister.

But he may be hesitant to remove an important source of revenue for the U.K.

Between 2021 and 2025, the tax generated more than £2.4 billion ($3.2 billion) in revenue for the British government.

Read More: ‘We Won’t Be Bullied’: U.K. Responds to Russian Threat Over Ukraine Drone Support

Trump has pushed the U.K. on policy in the past, including his consistent calls for Britain to allow new North Sea oil and gas licenses—something the Starmer government intended to ban.

On the eve of Burnham’s entry to Downing Street, Trump claimed: “The people of Aberdeen, in Scotland, are dancing in the streets because the new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, has stated that he will be opening up, all the way, the invaluable North Sea Oil."

Burnham has signaled that he is open to reconsidering Britain’s access to North Sea oil and gas.

“I’ve got something of an open mind, you know. I don’t have a sort of fixed position,” he said in early June.

Trump has continued to tout the new British Prime Minister’s willingness to reconsider the issue.

“One of the things he is going to do, I think he's going to open up the North Sea. That'll make the U.K. pretty rich,” Trump said on Monday in the Oval Office.

Burnham, however, has yet to make a final decision.

President Donald Trump announced late Tuesday a temporary pause on 50% tariffs on Canada as both countries race to finalize a trade deal.

The President’s announcement came hours before a series of tariffs set to cover about $20 billion worth of imports into the U.S. from Canada were set to take effect.

“I have paused the 50% tariffs against Canada, that were scheduled to kick in tomorrow morning for a three day period, based on the fact that Canada and the U.S.A., subject to the finalization of documents, have a deal!” Trump said on social media.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney released a statement moments later, confirming that there had been “intensive discussions” with the U.S. to “address outstanding trade issues.”

“Substantial progress has been made, although there is important work still to be done,” he said.

Read More: Trump Imposes 50% Tariff Hike on Canadian Goods

The tariffs will now be paused until Aug. 21, subject to the finalization of an agreement between the two countries.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the deal will include "comprehensive market access for ​all ⁠American goods, economic security commitments, digital trade alignment," along with other provisions.

Trump added in his social media post that the Keystone XL pipeline—a cross-border oil pipeline project between the U.S. and Canada that was canceled by former President Joe Biden in 2021 after pushback from environmentalists, Native American tribes, and Indigenous advocates—"may be awoken from the grave," but did not provide further details.

The President later posted what appeared to be an AI-generated image of himself dragging the Keystone pipeline out of the ground.

Neither side has provided further confirmation about the contents of the agreement.

TIME has reached out to both the White House and the Prime Minister's office for comment.

U.S. and Canada push toward a deal

Carney said earlier this week that he planned to speak with the U.S. President ahead of the tariff deadline. The announcement follows a period of negotiations between the two sides.

During a tour of a tire factory in Iowa last week, Greer told reporters that the U.S. and Canada were engaged in “constructive negotiations” but warned that if a “country retaliates” they would “take action.”

Canada's minister responsible for U.S. trade, Dominic LeBlanc, and chief trade negotiator Janice Charette have been in Washington since last week for talks.

The negotiations unfolded against a backdrop of ongoing grievances between the two countries, including Trump’s repeated statements about his desire to annex Canada and make it the 51st U.S. state—an idea Carney has strongly pushed back against.

In August, Carney took a swipe at Trump, mocking the U.S. President after a teleprompter malfunctioned in the middle of an on-camera speech.

The tense relationship between the pair has also played out over the Gordie Howe International Bridge—a cross-border bridge connecting the two countries that has repeatedly become a source of disagreement between Washington and Ottawa.

How U.S.-Canada trade tensions escalated

The last-minute tariff pause comes after more than a year of escalations between the two countries.

In February 2025, the White House hit Canada with a 25% tariff on most goods and 10% on energy resources, citing what it regarded as inadequate progress in curbing cross-border illegal immigration and drug trafficking.

Canada then imposed tariffs on some vehicle imports from the U.S. in April 2025, amid a larger trade war sparked by Trump’s global tariffs—the majority of which were struck down by a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year.

The 50% tariff hike on a range of Canadian goods was announced in July, with Trump signing a series of proclamations citing Canada’s “discriminatory treatment” of American products.

The new levy, a retaliation for Canada’s tariffs, would apply to a range of Canadian goods, including electronics, sports equipment, and essential oils.

The Administration had also announced targeted new tariffs on Canadian dairy products and exports of wine and other alcoholic beverages.

According to economists, the tariffs could have had significant economic consequences if enacted. TD Economics estimated that, if maintained, they could reduce Canadian GDP growth by 0.3 to 0.6 percentage points over the following year.

A Canadian Federation of Independent Business survey of 1,833 firms found that 77% of affected exporters expected revenue losses, while 35% expected their revenue to fall by at least half.

In a new proclamation issued Tuesday suspending the tariffs, Trump said: “Canada has expressed a commitment to remove the discriminations or unreasonable and unequal impositions.”

In a statement late Tuesday, the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. applauded Trump's announcement and called for "a negotiated solution that gets American spirits back on retail shelves in all Canadian provinces and returns the spirits sector to a zero-for-zero tariff framework."

The new tariffs were set to apply despite the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA)—which had shielded Canadian industries from earlier U.S. tariffs.

The USMCA, which was signed by Trump in 2018, is a trilateral agreement that eliminated or reduced tariffs on goods traded between the nations of North America. It governs nearly $2 trillion in annual trade among the three countries.

In early July, the U.S. declined to renew the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement for a 16-year term. Rather than terminate it outright, this puts the USMCA under annual review. Trade experts told TIME that the move is expected to carry profound long-term economic consequences.