By Sabiu Abdullahi
United States President Donald Trump has announced that any country maintaining commercial ties with Iran will face a 25 percent tariff on all business conducted with the United States.
The declaration came on Monday through a post on Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, where he described the decision as “final and conclusive”, without providing further clarification on how the measure would be implemented.
“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 said in the post.
The statement did not specify the nations that would be affected. However, several major economies maintain active trade relations with Iran. These include Russia, China, Brazil and Turkiye. Iraq and the United Arab Emirates also rank among Iran’s key trading partners, according to data from Trading Economics.
The announcement comes at a time when Iran is experiencing widespread antigovernment protests and violent unrest across the country.
Reports from rights groups suggest that hundreds of people may have been killed, although an internet shutdown has limited independent verification of events on the ground.
In recent weeks, Trump has increased pressure on Tehran while issuing warnings of possible military action if Iran does not reduce its nuclear and military programmes.
“Now, I hear that Iran is trying to build up again, and if they are, we’re going to have to knock them down,” Trump told reporters in December.
“We’ll knock them down. We’ll knock the hell out of them. But, hopefully, that’s not happening.”
Earlier in June, the United States carried out air attacks on three Iranian nuclear facilities during a 12-day conflict that followed military action by Israel.
Legal experts have argued that the US strikes may have breached international law.