Iran's Top Security Chief Threatens Countries Backing US Economic War
Rezaei says Iran will target the interests of nations supporting Washington's economic campaign, while declaring the strait's management belongs exclusively to Tehran, regardless of the Iran-Oman route deal
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei issued a sweeping threat on Saturday warning that Tehran will target the interests of any country helping the United States wage economic warfare against the Islamic Republic, while simultaneously declaring that any opening of the Strait of Hormuz will be managed by Iran and will carry a transit fee, a position he explicitly said has no connection to the separate Iran-Oman agreement on the strait's middle route.
Rezaei made the remarks on Iranian state television on Saturday, delivering one of the most direct and comprehensive statements of Iranian retaliatory intent since the 60-day memorandum of understanding expired on Sunday without a successor agreement and without active negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
A Direct Warning to US Economic Allies
Rezaei's threat to target the interests of countries assisting Washington's economic warfare against Iran arrives at a moment of acute pressure on Tehran's remaining financial networks. The United Arab Emirates announced on Tuesday that it has halted all trade, commercial exchanges, and financial transactions with Iran until further notice, a decision that Strategic Communications Director Afra al-Hameli described as a response to regional escalations undermining peace and security. The UAE move was described by analysts as closing one of Tehran's most important remaining economic lifelines, given that the Emirates supplied more than 30 percent of Iran's total imports, worth approximately $21 billion, in 2024.
President Trump escalated Washington's economic campaign further on Wednesday, announcing what he called an "Economic D-Day" against Iran and warning on Truth Social 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." Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has separately said unprecedented new economic measures against Iran are imminent, describing the forthcoming actions as economic isolation "the world has never seen before."
Rezaei's threat that Iran will target the interests of countries helping the US economic campaign is the Islamic Republic's direct response to that escalating pressure architecture, signaling that Tehran intends to impose costs on third-party governments and their economic assets if they comply with Washington's demands to sever ties with Iran.
Hormuz Fees Are Non-Negotiable and Independent of the Oman Deal
On the Strait of Hormuz, Rezaei drew a sharp and explicit distinction between two separate tracks that the international community has sometimes conflated. He affirmed that any opening of the strait will be managed by Tehran and will carry a fee, a position consistent with the statement of Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who declared on state television that the Strait of Hormuz "will not return to prewar conditions" and that Tehran will charge fees for transit services.
Crucially, Rezaei stated explicitly that this fee-based management position has no link to the Iran-Oman deal on the strait's middle route, a bilateral technical agreement whose geographic coordinates were confirmed by Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei on Saturday, August 15, 2026. The clarification is significant because it prevents any interpretation of the Iran-Oman route agreement as a substitute for or replacement of Iran's broader claim to manage and charge for all Hormuz transit, making clear that Tehran views the two arrangements as entirely separate instruments serving different purposes.
The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil normally flows during peacetime, has been effectively closed to normal commercial traffic since the conflict began on February 28, 2026. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on Monday, August 3, 2026, that ships and oil are already moving through the strait in real time, but subsequent Iranian attacks on commercial vessels and the expiry of the MOU have cast doubt on the durability of that claim. Trump has threatened to declare Hormuz "US territory," while Iran's deputy foreign minister has replied that the waterway "was Iran's, is Iran's, and will remain Iran's."
Rezaei's appointment as Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Iran's most powerful security decision-making body, was itself described by analysts as a signal that Tehran believes it has the upper hand in the conflict and is adopting a tougher posture for the next phase of negotiations and confrontation.