Vessels along a pier in Bandar Abbas in southern Iran along the Strait of Hormuz, on August 10, 2026. Atta Kenare / AFP via Getty Images
Iranian officials on Friday warned that every country should refrain from imposing new U.S. sanctions against Iran’s regime that were announced earlier this week.
“The U.S. economic sanctions against Iran, regardless of their name and title, are completely illegal and unjustified measures that violate the U.N. Charter, international humanitarian law, and human rights,” the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a lengthy statement on its Persian X account, according to an English translation.
The statement added that “all countries are obliged to refrain from implementing such sanctions, and all governments are also obliged to refrain from recognizing or approving the situations or effects resulting from these illegal measures.”
Earlier this week, the Trump administration said it launched “Operation Economy Outcast” to target Iran’s economy, coming weeks after the U.S. military ended another round of strikes against the country following the collapse of bilateral negotiations.
“Under [President Donald Trump’s] leadership, America is no longer managing the Iranian threat. We are ending it. Those who stand with the United States will reap the rewards of our partnership. Those who tether themselves to Tehran should expect to share in the isolation of a withering regime,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a Monday statement, announcing the new sanctions.
The United States wants Iran to stop attacking or threatening ships traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas trade passes. Meanwhile, Trump has said that the strikes and new pressure campaign are designed to push Tehran into giving up its nuclear program.
Iran’s foreign ministry added on Friday that “participating in the implementation of U.S. unilateral sanctions against Iran is tantamount to complicity in imposing the illegal will of a state on independent states and disrupting their legitimate economic and trade relations.”
The ministry did not say how Tehran could respond if other countries abide by the U.S. sanctions. Friday’s comment was also carried through the state-run Mehr News Agency and Tasnim News.
It also comes as U.S. Navy Admiral Bradley Cooper, the top U.S. military commander for the Middle East, said in a video statement on Thursday night that international shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz have been cleared of mines.
“We have successfully cleared sea mines in the strait’s international shipping lanes that were laid months ago by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Internationally recognized transit routes in the strait are free of Iranian sea mines, thanks to the incredible work of the U.S. military,” Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), said in the video.
Ships are anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, off the coast of Bandar Abbas, Iran, on Aug. 10, 2026. Ali Saeedi/Getty Images
Even without mines, however, ships still face threats from drones, missiles, and boats from Iran as they pass through the narrow waterway.
According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), the average price of a regular gallon of gasoline across the United States stood at about $4.08 on Friday.
The price has remained roughly the same since last week and even last month, when it averaged $4.09 per gallon. However, it’s up more than 80 cents from a year ago, when the price averaged around $3.21, according to AAA data.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
