The White House seeks leverage as protests spread and the death toll mounts.
By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News
US President Donald Trump slapped a large tariff Monday on all countries trading with Iran in a bid to pressure the regime to halt its violent crackdown on nationwide protests that began over three weeks ago.
“Effective immediately, any Country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a Tariff of 25% on any and all business being done with the United States of America,” Trump wrote on his online platform Truth Social. “This Order is final and conclusive.”
The measure appears to be a message to Iran’s top trading partners to use their leverage in a crucial sphere where Washington has almost none, having instituted years ago a near-total US trade embargo on the country.
China, for example, is Iran’s largest trading partner by far, accounting for around 30% of its exports — $22 billion, mostly oil – and $15 billion in imports, according to the most recent World Bank data from 2022.
Turkey ranks second, with about 9% of Iran’s trade, including $5.8 billion in exports and $6.1 billion in imports.
The tariff announcement comes amid escalating reports of regime violence against demonstrators.
While the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), which covers human rights violations in Iran, has reported the death of nearly 500 anti-regime demonstrators, opposition groups have cited far higher figures.
Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s last shah who lives in the US and is a prominent critic of the Islamic Republic, said authorities have killed more than 3,000 people nationwide. The London-based Opposition media outlet Iran International quadrupled the number Tuesday to 12,000.
Human rights organizations have also reported that more than 10,000 protesters have been arrested.
If confirmed, the figures would dwarf casualty and arrest counts from previous protest waves, underscoring the how endangered the regime feels this time.
As the toll rises, Trump has adopted increasingly hardline rhetoric toward Tehran and the White House has said it is reviewing military options for direct intervention.
He is still leaving room for negotiations, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday, telling reporters that “Diplomacy is always the first option for the president” and that the tough language that Iranian officials have been using to threaten the US is “quite different than the messages the administration is receiving privately.”
The State Department barred US citizens Monday from traveling to the Islamic Republic and urged any Americans already there to leave “immediately,”warning that they face serious risks due to the unrest, including arbitrary detention and possible torture.
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