China criticizes new US sanctions as Iran vows to retaliate

The US Treasury has begun its new campaign to tighten sanctions against Iran with five targets: aviation, digital assets such as cryptocurrency, gold, shipping, and technology.

The goal: “to restrict the revenue that the Iranian regime uses to attack its neighbors, support terrorism abroad, brutally oppress its own people, and hold the global economy hostage.”

Even though the designations target the regime, ordinary Iranians will inevitably be affected. The measures are designed to choke off the ability of the regime to generate revenue and hard currency.

Less access to foreign currency will put further pressure on the beleaguered Iranian currency – the rial – and lead to higher import costs and even higher inflation.

Crypto-channels have helped Iran make money from oil exports. One individual sanctioned on Monday, a Ukrainian named Ivan Obukhov who is based in the United Arab Emirates, “has processed over $100 million of cryptocurrency payments to facilitate oil sales” for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) since 2023, according to the US government.

But ordinary Iranians also turn to cryptocurrency as a way to opt out of a failing system. Iran’s crypto eco-system was worth $7.78 billion in 2025, according to blockchain data platform Chainanalysis.

The US campaign does not automatically blacklist every Iranian crypto company.

The Treasury said Monday that “as Iran’s formal financial sector collapses, the regime is increasingly attempting to stabilize the rial with gold to hedge against rampant inflation.”

Removing access would likely further ravage the spending power of ordinary Iranians.

Another measure that will impact ordinary Iranians: the Treasury suspended several licenses that had authorized certain remittance payments to Iran. This makes it more difficult for the huge Iranian diaspora to send money to relatives, forcing them to use third-country intermediaries and crypto or stable-coins.

Drivers line up at a petrol station in Tehran on Tuesday.

Drivers in the Iranian capital of Tehran are experiencing long lines at gas stations and temporary fuel shortages, according to Iranian news agencies, although authorities have insisted the overall fuel supply chain remains stable.

It comes as US strikes on Iranian oil storage infrastructure, the US blockade and fears of rising inflation are believed to be triggering fuel shortages and subsequent rushes on gas stations.

Iranian news agency Rokna reported that people in Tehran said some petrol stations had no gas available, forcing them to temporarily close, while other stations had long lines on Monday and Tuesday.

Tabnak, another news agency, published a similar report on Monday, saying it received comments from readers who were experiencing restricted fuel availability in eastern and southern Tehran.

Social media users in Tehran also reported gas stations without petrol in more urban, northern neighborhoods. And outside of the capital, reports of diesel and gas shortages in Mazandaran province and Fars province have emerged on social media. CNN is unable to independently verify those reports.

The National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company (NIOPDC) has said the country’s fuel supply chain remains stable, and the shortages and long lines are being caused by rumors that lead to panic buying, as well as delays in fuel deliveries. The distribution company said the issue “should be resolved within the next few days,” according to Rokna.

The Tehran region director of the NIOPDC also said that damage inflicted on Tehran’s petroleum product storage and distribution infrastructure during the war has created some constraints on fuel distribution.

A currency dealer holds Iranian Rial in the Grand Bazaar in Tehran, Iran, on August 17.

Iranian workers have seen their base wage more than halve in the last decade, plunging from $232 to $83 per month in real terms, as sanctions, crises and war have squeezed Iran’s economy, according to state-affiliated media.

Iran’s currency – the rial – is incredibly weak and dropped to a record low of two million against the US dollar yesterday. That means the base wage of 16.625 million tomans amounts to just $83, said the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA), using the toman unit which is equal to 10 rials.

This marks “an exceptionally steep and unprecedented decline,” ILNA said. It is also well below the globally recognized $10 a day benchmark, below which international organizations classify people as living on low-incomes and at risk of hunger.

Even though wages have risen during this time, because so many consumer goods are imported at dollar-dominated prices, workers’ “real wages” have fallen, ILNA said.

“The clearest evidence can be seen on working families’ dinner tables. Ten years ago, we used to buy several kilograms of red meat every month. Now, months go by without us seeing any meat on our tables,” he told ILNA.

ILNA’s assessment comes as a reminder of the decade-long economic crisis in Iran, and the severity of the sanctions the US has already imposed on the regime.

Global oil prices dipped on Tuesday despite the United States threatening “economic D-Day” on nations doing business with Iran as traders wait for more concrete details.

Brent futures, the global benchmark, declined 2% to trade at $90 a barrel just before 5 a.m. ET. Meanwhile, WTI futures, the US benchmark, dropped 2.4% to $83 around the same time.

The dips came even after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced fresh economic sanctions against Iran and its trading partners on Monday. Shipping firms also risk penalties if they respond to demands for information from Iranian organizations managing the Strait of Hormuz.

But the US administration has not yet imposed any sanctions and it has neither named affected countries nor provided a specific timeline. Brent and WTI both closed down 2.4% on Monday.

“There were no concrete new steps other than sanctioning 60 Iran-linked entities and individuals,” Deutsche Bank analysts wrote in a Tuesday note.

“In the absence of material escalation and amid continuing grey flows through the Strait of Hormuz, oil markets remained mostly in a wait-and-see mode,” they added.

Some analysts have theorized that meaningful amounts of crude oil are “leaking” out of the Strait of Hormuz, helping to prop up the global market. These tankers may be turning off their tracking signals to avoid detection, experts told CNN.

Matt Egan contributed reporting.

Lin Jian, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, speaks during a press conference on Tuesday.

Beijing on Tuesday warned new US economic sanctions on Iran “will only further intensify tensions” and that China’s cooperation with Iran should not be disrupted.

“Economic warfare and maximum pressure will not help resolve the issue. They will only further intensify tensions and conflicts, create spillover risks…” said China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian during a regular press briefing.

“China’s cooperation with Iran has always been conducted within the framework of international law and should not be disrupted or undermined.”

Lin added: “China is closely following relevant developments and will take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard its own rights and interests.”

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday vowed an “economic D-Day” for countries that buy oil from Iran.

Tehran likely shipped $3.9 and $4.2 billion worth of oil in September 2025, one analysis found; China, the world’s largest energy consumer, buys the vast majority.

Thirty-eight percent of China’s oil and 23% of its liquified natural gas transits through the Strait of Hormuz, a focal point of the Iran war, according to a Nomura report in April.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday threatened new sanctions on countries refusing to cut economic ties with Iran, but stopped short of imposing new big penalties.

Shipping firms now risk penalties for even responding to information demands from organizations Iran has set up to manage the Strait of Hormuz.

Washington’s new measure will also impact people in the US who send money to family members who live in Iran.

Here’s what to know about the sanction threats:

Other top headlines in the region:

CNN’s Hanna Ziady, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Adam Cancryn, Alayna Treene, Matt Egan, Betsy Klein, Aida Karimi, Jennifer Hansler, Eyad Kourdi and Mitchell McCluskey contributed reporting to this post.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks during a press conference to outline further sanctions against Iran, at the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday vowed an “economic D-Day” for countries that buy oil from Iran. Experts say that means one country in particular: China.

Bessent didn’t name China on Monday, but he left little room for doubt.

“We find that the best way to engage with countries is through quiet diplomacy, and we are level-setting with every country to tell them our expectations,” Bessent said on Monday. “We know who they are. They know who they are.”

But while Bessent’s threat could put China front and center, the repercussions could reach across the world – even for American consumers, who could find their own energy costs rising as a result.

Read more: The US says it’ll crack down on countries doing business with Iran. Who’s buying Iranian oil?

Washington’s new measures to put economic pressure on Iran will impact people in the US who send money to family members who live in Iran.

The US Treasury has suspended a longstanding mechanism that has allowed for personal remittances to and from Iran, according to a document published late Monday.

Iran has been heavily sanctioned by Washington for decades but a general license carve-out has allowed for noncommercial, personal remittances to Iran via a specific procedure involving third-country brokers.

With that general license now suspended, people wishing to make such transactions would need to apply for a specific license from the Office of Foreign Assets Control, according to the Treasury notice.

The United States has indefinitely suspended all amateur and professional sports activities and academic exchanges with Iran, according to a statement Monday by the Office of Foreign Assets Control.

Tensions between the US and Iran had already spilled over to the sporting arena before the suspension.

Iran’s soccer team faced extensive hurdles during the 2026 World Cup, which was co-hosted by the US. The team was forced to move its training base from Arizona to in Tijuana, Mexico, at the last minute, and faced restrictions on how long it was able to stay in the US before and after games.

Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, on Monday.

Mariners and shipping firms now risk sanctions or penalties if they respond to information demands from organizations Iran has set up to manage the Strait of Hormuz, the US government has warned.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had previously said that anyone who paid tolls to Iran for passage of the critical waterway would risk being caught by sanctions, but according to a new notice posted late Monday that risk now applies even to those “responding to information demands … even if there is no associated payment.”

It applies to dealings with Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA), Persian Gulf Marine Insurance Company (PGMIC) and HormuzSafe Marine Services Authority (Hormuz Safe) –– three organizations set up this year by an Iranian regime determined to push its claimed right to control the strait.

In recent months, Iran has repeatedly attacked ships that it said had not liaised with the its Hormuz organizations.

The OFAC alert was published on what Washington dubbed ‘economic D-Day,’ as it ramped up its maximum pressure campaign on Tehran.