As US President Donald Trump returns to bombing Iranian territory, Esmaeil Baghaei Hamaneh, the spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, said at a press conference on Tuesday that it's only a sign of the quagmire he's found himself in, and emphasized that the only way out will be negotiation rather than force. "It has become clear they…
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G20 touts economic war on Iran as Iran calls US stuck in its own error
At the G20 Summit, US officials claim broad support for an economic campaign against Iran. Iran responds, labeling the American approach as a massive error, stuck on repeat. The official line is resolve, but the receipts show a feedback loop: sanctions announced, resistance declared, and both sides digging in. The defense is that pressure works, but the measure is how many times the error gets repeated. At column length, the collapse comes when the back-and-forth turns from leverage to stalemate, and the cost is paid in the currency of isolation. Correction: it's not always leverage, sometimes it's just lost opportunity.
“The US tells the G20 it's ready for an economic war on Iran; Iran says Americans can't find the exit. That's not strategy, that's two sides yelling through a locked door. The cost lands on every wallet caught in the crossfire.”
“International pressure is how you get results. The G20's support proves resolve—wait, if Iran says we're stuck, it's just sour grapes. It's not an error, it's leverage. Unless, of course, the sanctions backfire, but that's not likely, is it?”
The receipts
The Treasury secretary is also facing pushback on the Trump administration’s trade policies at the global gathering.
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.