Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at China’s role in U.S. sanctions on Iran, the killing of a former Zambian cabinet member, and a controversial medical exam for imprisoned Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Senior Iranian leadership warned the United States on Friday that any new U.S. threats would be met with “crushing, punishing, and devastating responses,” just days after the White House announced that it would start targeting Tehran with its “MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN.”

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at China’s role in U.S. sanctions on Iran, the killing of a former Zambian cabinet member, and a controversial medical exam for imprisoned Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Senior Iranian leadership warned the United States on Friday that any new U.S. threats would be met with “crushing, punishing, and devastating responses,” just days after the White House announced that it would start targeting Tehran with its “MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN.”

On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump warned that any country that “allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences.” This would include cash transfers, oil smuggling operations, and other corporate fronts, Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time, calling it “Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale.”

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has doubled down on Trump’s threats. “You are either with us or against us,” Bessent told CNBC on Thursday. “It is time for our allies and the rest of the world to make a decision. We are going to squash the economy of this murderous regime.”

The United States has repeatedly criticized its allies, particularly those in NATO, for failing to adequately help the U.S. military defeat Iran. But now, the White House appears to be changing its messaging, warning other countries that they could fall into a similar trap as Iran if they do not comply with Washington’s demands.

“Any remaining tie to Tehran will hasten a nation’s economic oblivion, whether that tie be purposefully constructed or willfully ignored,” Bessent wrote on X. The treasury secretary is expected to detail the new sanctions package........

© Foreign Policy