President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to impose sanctions on any country or individual that purchases Iranian oil or petrochemical products.
“Any Country or person who buys ANY AMOUNT of OIL or PETROCHEMICALS from Iran will be subject to, immediately, Secondary Sanctions,” Trump posted to Truth Social. “They will not be allowed to do business with the United States of America in any way, shape, or form.”
Trump’s warning comes after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth warned Wednesday that Iran would “pay the consequence” for providing “lethal support” to the Ansar Allah terrorist organization, also known as the Houthis.
It’s unclear what incident prompted Hegseth’s post. But on Monday, an encounter with the Houthis caused a $60 million U.S. F/A-18 fighter jet to slip off the hangar deck of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman and fall into the Red Sea.
The United States has spent several weeks conducting airstrikes on the Houthis in response to the group’s more than 100 attacks on international cargo ships, tankers, and naval vessels following Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel. Since March, over 800 Houthi targets have been hit, resulting in the elimination of hundreds of fighters and leaders, and Houthi ballistic missile launches and suicide drone attacks are down 69% and 55% respectively, Fox News reported.
Despite being in active nuclear negotiations with the Iranian regime, Trump has kept up his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran to prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon and curb its backing of terror organizations across the Middle East.
If negotiations fail, the president has repeatedly warned that military action remains on the table to disrupt Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
“I think if the talks aren’t successful with Iran, I think Iran is going to be in great danger,” Trump said from the Oval Office earlier this month. “It’s not a complicated formula. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, that’s all there is.”
On Wednesday, the State Department announced sanctions on seven entities involved in the Iranian petroleum and petrochemical trade. The sanctions target four sellers, one purchaser, one marine management company, two of its vessels, and an Iran-based cargo inspection firm.
Last week, sanctions were imposed on two Iranian petroleum magnates, one of whom was caught attempting to export cargo to China off the coast of Houston last year. In total, 72 entities, 14 individuals, and 74 vessels were sanctioned.
