The president of the United States, Donald Trump, has taken another step in his strategy to economically suffocate the Ayatollah regime in Iran and has announced, through his social network Truth Socialthe immediate imposition of a 25% tariff on countries that “do business” with the Islamic Republic. A “definitive” measure, according to Trump himself, that comes while the White House is debating how to respond to the Iranian crisis, marked by the repression of Iran and an increasingly serious toll of victims.
Trump’s move occurs at a time of high diplomatic tension, but also of discreet contacts between the US and Iran. According to the Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, contacted the US special envoy in the Middle East and Ukraine, Steve Witkoff, last weekend with the aim of de-escalating the escalation between the two countries, after the Republican tenant of the White House threatened to resort to military action against the ayatollahs.
Despite Trump’s announcement, the measure leaves a few unknowns open. For now, no official document has been published on the White House website on the matter, nor have the legal bases that would allow these taxes to be imposed or whether they would be applied generally to all of Iran’s trading partners been detailed. The Ayatollah’s regime, which has been subject to US economic sanctions for years, maintains trade relations with a dozen countries.
Among the main countries to which Iran exports its products are China, the United Arab Emirates and India. To these, we must take into account seven other destinations in Latin America: Brazil (main partner of the region), Venezuela, Argentina, Cuba, Mexico, Colombia and Uruguay. In 2022, according to World Bank data cited by Reuters, Iran exported products to 147 trading partners.
In Washington, US Government spokesperson Karoline Leavitt has assured that Trump does not rule out any option against Iran, although she insisted that diplomacy remains the first way for the United States. Tehran, for its part, has confirmed that it keeps all communication channels open.
At least 648 dead due to repression
The Norwegian-based NGO Iran Human Rights reported this Monday that, since the start of the protests in Iran, it has been able to verify the deaths of 648 protesters. The NGO has specified that the figure only includes cases confirmed directly in hospitals and places to which the bodies are transferred. It also warns that the real number of victims could be much higher since there would be thousands of injured, in addition to some 10,000 detainees who are exposed to the risk of imminent executions.
For its part, the American NGO HRANA places the same balance at 646 deaths, including 505 protesters, nine minors and 133 members of the security forces, in addition to a prosecutor and civilians unrelated to the mobilizations. The organization also warns that there are hundreds of deaths that are still being investigated, data that could significantly increase the final balance.
Both organizations agree, however, in pointing out that the blockade on internet access imposed by the Iranian regime since January 8 and the restrictions on access to information make independent verification of the data “extremely difficult.”
