Iran vows ‘devastating’ response as US threatens crushing sanctions designed to ‘collapse’ regime

Iran threatened “devastating” consequences if the US moves ahead with imposing crippling sanctions against the regime — after the Trump administration pledged to hit the Islamic Republic with the toughest financial penalties in history.

“With preparedness across land, sea, air, air defense and cyberspace, Iran’s armed forces will respond to the enemy’s new threats with crushing, punishing and devastating responses,” Major General Ali Abdollahi, chief of staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, said on Iranian media.

The US and Iran cobbled together two cease-fire deals, one in April and the other in June, with the goal of restoring the normal flow of maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and ending the nearly six-month-old war — but both were short-lived.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf speaks during an event on August 20, 2026, in Karbala, Iraq. REUTERS United States Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent walks outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, DC, on Thursday, August 20, 2026. MediaPunch / BACKGRID

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on CNBC Friday that the US would “collapse the regime,” likening the naval blockade reimposed on Iran in July and the impending “toughest sanctions in history” as a “one-two punch.”

President Trump warned any country providing “any type of lifeline to Iran” would face economic consequences, and Bessent said he would “talk about exactly what we’re going to do” at a press conference on Monday.

But Iran’s foreign ministry preempted Bessent’s saber-rattling with a statement that new sanctions would not create “even the slightest hesitation in Iranians’ determination to safeguard Iran’s independence, dignity and national sovereignty.”

People walk next to a symbolic mockup of an Iranian missile and an Iranian flag at Imam Hussein Square in Tehran, Iran, on Sunday, July 12, 2026. via REUTERS President Trump warned any country providing “any type of lifeline to Iran” would face economic consequences, and Bessent said he would “talk about exactly what we’re going to do” at a press conference on Monday. AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf visits the Imam Ali Shrine in Najaf, Iraq, Friday, August 21, 2026. REUTERS

Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who has led the country’s negotiations during mediation with the US, taunted the Trump administration, saying that America appears to have shifted tactics after being unable to defeat the regime militarily.

“We must make plans to deal with the unjust sanctions so that we can overcome them,” he said, accusing the US and Israel of waging economic and “cognitive” warfare.

Thousands of Iranians and 18 US service members have been killed since the Feb. 28 start of the war, with more than 750 wounded, according to the Pentagon.