🇺🇸🇮🇷 Trump is trying to strangle Iran economically, but Prof. Mohammad Marandi says Tehran will answer with force and keep escalating even if the U.S hits back harder.
Washington just sanctioned a Turkish bank it describes as a critical financial lifeline for Iran, cutting it out of the U.S financial system.
At almost exactly the same time, Iran began firing anti-ship missiles at ships using the Omani side of the Strait of Hormuz.
Prof. Marandi says those two developments should be viewed as directly connected.
Iran can't sanction America in return, so if Washington intensifies the economic siege, Tehran's answer will be to intensify pressure on Hormuz.
And Prof. Marandi says Iran still has plenty of rungs left on that escalation ladder: restrict more shipping, potentially shut down Hormuz altogether, expand disruption beyond the Strait, and accept whatever American retaliation follows.
He says this is no longer simply a negotiation over sanctions, shipping fees, or freedom of navigation; Iran will not agree to fully normalize the Strait of Hormuz while the war in Gaza continues.
In other words, Washington may believe it can squeeze Tehran economically until it compromises over Hormuz, but Prof. Marandi is describing almost the opposite calculation inside Iran:
The harder America squeezes, the more Iran will use the one weapon capable of exporting that economic pain back to America and the rest of the world: Hormuz.
And that leaves Washington facing a brutal equation:
Economic war triggers military retaliation. Military retaliation threatens global trade. And the final Iranian off-ramp now runs all the way through Gaza.
@s_m_marandi
