Iran Warns Middle East Neighbors Against Joining US Sanctions Campaign

TEHRAN, Iran —

Iran warned countries across the Middle East that joining a new US sanctions campaign against it would be treated as a hostile act, France 24 reported Sunday, as tensions between Tehran and Washington deepen nearly six months into their war.

Economic Pressure Mounts

President Masoud Pezeshkian acknowledged on Sunday that Iranians are struggling under the strain. "I understand we have many problems in society right now. We are trying to prevent these as much as we can," he said in a speech broadcast on state television, according to France 24. He said the government is "striving with all our hearts to overcome inflation, livelihood problems, unemployment, and to secure the future of the people, so that they can live with dignity and pride."

His comments came after the United States vowed last week to bring about what it called the "collapse" of the Iranian government through a new sanctions campaign, France 24 reported. Washington has scheduled a press conference for Monday to lay out more details of that strategy, according to the outlet. In response, Tehran has threatened to regard any country that joins the US sanctions push as an enemy, France 24 reported.

Even as the pressure builds, Iran's oil minister, Mohsen Paknejad, said Sunday that the country had discovered a gas field holding more than 7.5 trillion cubic feet of gas south of Fars Province, according to comments carried by state media and cited by France 24.

Regional Fallout

The standoff is also drawing in Iran's neighbors. Pakistan's army chief, Asim Munir, is due to visit Tehran on Monday, Iran's foreign ministry said, according to France 24, a sign that not every regional government is following Washington's lead.

The confrontation has also pulled US military resources away from Asia. The USS George Washington, an aircraft carrier normally forward-deployed to Yokosuka, Japan, arrived in the Middle East last week and has begun operations in waters tied to the Iran crisis, Nikkei Asia reported, citing US Central Command. The move leaves the Asia-Pacific region without a US carrier presence, according to Nikkei Asia, which noted the ship has spent recent years conducting joint exercises with Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force.

Separately, Iran's judiciary executed a man on Sunday who had been convicted of acting as an agent for Israel and the United States during antigovernment protests that broke out late last year, France 24 reported. He was one of several people put to death in connection with the demonstrations, which were fueled by economic hardship, according to the outlet.