The president of the United States, Donald Trump, announced this Monday that any country that maintains commercial relations with Iran will face a 25% tariff on all its transactions with the United States, a measure with which Washington seeks to increase pressure on Tehran in the midst of a wave of internal protests against the regime. The announcement comes at a particularly delicate moment for the Islamic Republic, which is experiencing the largest anti-government mobilizations in recent years.
“Effective immediately, any country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a 25% tariff on all trade with the United States of America,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social social network, without offering further details on the legal scope of the measure. The White House did not publish official documentation on the matter or clarify whether the sanction will affect all of Iran’s trading partners, or under what authority these tariffs will be imposed.
The tariffs, if applicable, would be paid by US importers of products from those countries. OPEC member Iran has been under harsh sanctions from Washington for years and exports most of its oil to China, in addition to maintaining important trade ties with Turkey, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and India. From Beijing, the Chinese embassy in Washington criticized Trump’s approach and warned that it will take “all necessary measures” to protect its interests.
More than 600 dead in protests
Meanwhile, the situation on the ground in Iran continues to deteriorate. The country, which last year experienced a twelve-day war with Israel – an ally of the United States – and whose nuclear centers were bombed by the US Army in June, is now facing a popular revolt that has gone from economic protests to direct calls for the fall of the theocratic regime, in what represents one of the greatest challenges to clerical power since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
The death toll numbers continue to increase. The Norwegian-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) reported this Monday that it has verified 648 dead protesters since the start of the protests on December 27. For its part, the HRANA network puts the death toll at 646 people, including 133 members of the security forces. According to IHRNGO, these data are based solely on cases verified through two independent sources, including hospitals and centers where the bodies are transferred.
Among the victims are at least nine minors under 18 years of age, in addition to thousands of injured and more than 10,000 detained, according to human rights organizations. IHRNGO warns that the final number of deaths could reach 6,000, although it recognizes that the Internet shutdown decreed by the authorities since January 8 makes independent verification of the information extremely difficult.
The NGO has also warned of the imminent risk of executions. One of the detainees, Erfan Soltani, 26, was reportedly sentenced to death after his arrest on January 8 in Fardis, Karaj. “They have informed his family that he will be executed on January 14,” IHRNGO denounced. Its director, Mahmud Amiri-Moghadam, has warned that the risk of extrajudicial executions is very serious and has compared the current repression to the regime’s crimes in the 1980s.
Despite the hardening of the discourse, Trump has assured that diplomacy remains his first option, although he has not ruled out other alternatives, including the military. Tehran, for its part, claims to keep communication channels open with Washington, while international pressure and the magnitude of the protests place the Iranian regime at one of the most critical moments in its recent history.
