With Iran dragging out the talks underway in the Gulf Arab state of Oman, President Donald Trump signed an executive order setting up a mechanism to impose a 25 percent tariff on countries that do business with the regime
“The Order imposes a system that allows the United States to impose additional tariffs on imports from any country that directly or indirectly purchases, imports, or otherwise acquires any goods or services from Iran,” The White House said in a communique on Friday.
President Trump signed the executive orders hours after a U.S. delegation, led by Steve Witkoff, held two rounds of inconclusive talks with the Iranian regime negotiators in the Gulf Arab state of Oman.
Despite the Trump White House raising concerns over Iran’s ballistic missile program, the regime is rapidly rebuilding its long-range strike capabilities destroyed by Israel in the 12-Day War last summer. “Iran’s missile programme was “never negotiable” in talks, the country’s foreign minister said on Saturday,” The New York Times reported.
The executive order is expected to hit the usual suspects, such as China, Russia, and India, Bloomberg noted. “Despite sanctions on certain products and industries, there are still more than 100 countries that trade with Iran,” the BBC reported Saturday. “Its biggest export partner is China. In the year to October 2025, Beijing bought more than $14bn (£10.4bn) of products from Iran, according to figures from Trade Data Monitor based on official Iranian data.”
Germany, weaning itself off Russian energy imports, is also likely to get caught in its crosshairs. The new “measures would hit trade with China — Iran’s largest trading partner and the biggest buyer of Iranian oil — along with Russia, Germany, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.” German state TV Deutsche Welle reported.
The Trump administration appears to have no illusion about the true nature of this regime. The White House statement identified the Mullah regime as “the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism” that supports proxy terrorist groups and militias across the Middle East, including those who have killed and wounded Americans and are actively targeting U.S. forces, regional partners, and allies.”
The administration also wants an end to the killing of Iranians protesting against the regime. Recent estimates indicate that the regime forces may have massacred more than 30,000 people to quell the protests that began nearly 6 weeks ago.
The White House noted that the “regime brutally represses its own people, killing thousands of protesters, denying human rights, and using violence to maintain power, while spreading extremism and undermining U.S. efforts for peace and stability.”
With President Trump giving diplomacy a chance, the top Iranian negotiator and Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, has threatened to attack nearby U.S. military bases if Washington orders a strike on regime targets.
“Iran has warned it will target American bases in the Middle East if it is attacked by the United States,” The Telegraph (UK) reported. “There is no possibility of attacking American soil if Washington attacks us, but we will attack their bases in the region,” Mr Araghchi told Al Jazeera on Saturday.”
The Iranian foreign minister made those thuggish remarks as a U.S. carrier strike group is operating in the Arabian Sea. Last week, a U.S. Navy fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone that was heading towards the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier. “The Shahed-139 drone was shot down by an F-35C fighter jet from the Lincoln, which was sailing about 500 miles … from Iran’s southern coast,” The Associated Press reported Wednesday.
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