WASHINGTON, Aug 27 (Reuters) — President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United States is not engaged in discussions with Iran as Washington concentrates on exerting severe economic pressure on Tehran, while warning that nations maintaining commercial ties with the Islamic Republic will face punitive measures.
“We don’t want to speak to them. We’re not looking to meet or anything,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Earlier that day, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt indicated that the U.S. economic campaign would persist until Iran opts to enter negotiations in good faith.
“Now we have Operation Economic Outpost to dismantle their economy,” Leavitt stated during an appearance on the “Fox & Friends” program. “No negotiations are happening right now, and this will continue until the president determines that they are prepared to come to the table in a meaningful way… He of course continues to retain all options on the table.”
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent issued a warning on Monday, urging countries to sever financial relationships with Iran or risk secondary sanctions under an initiative previously described as “Economic D-Day,” though the Treasury Department did not move forward with immediate penalties.
When questioned on Thursday about potential consequences for Russia if it continued doing business with Iran, Trump responded: “It depends. So far, I think Russia’s behaved quite well, having to do with the Strait of Hormuz, and you have to understand: for everything they do, we do also. You know, somebody was saying about China. What about China? We hear they’re spying. We spy on them too.”
When further asked whether he would impose sanctions on Chinese banks engaged in business with Iran, Trump replied: “Who said I’m not? You don’t know if I’m doing it… I don’t have to announce everything, do I?”
Qatar’s prime minister traveled to Tehran on Thursday in an effort to revive diplomatic channels following a series of mutual accusations between the U.S. and Iran over Washington’s pledge to escalate economic measures — a development one Iranian official characterized as “all-out economic war.”
(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Ryan Patrick Jones, and Katharine Jackson; editing by Michelle Nichols)