Trump Threatens 'Tremendous' Economic Consequences for Countries Helping Iran

US President Donald Trump announced the "most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country" against Iran on his Truth Social platform on the evening of Wednesday, August 19, 2026 (28 Mordad 1405), while simultaneously threatening "tremendous economic consequences" for any country that helps Iran. According to Oilprice, he wrote that any country allowing its financial institutions, businesses, airports or government entities to provide any lifeline to Iran would itself face economic consequences, and called for an immediate halt to oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries and front companies.

Trump did not explicitly name any country in the post. Per Oilprice, in the oil market Iran's key customer is China, which has bought more than 90 percent of sanctioned Iranian oil in recent years. Analysts had earlier expected China's independent refiners to return to buying higher volumes of Iranian crude in August as stockpiles in Shandong fell to their lowest level this year.