The New York Times warned that the Trump administration's increased economic pressure is unlikely to force Iran to surrender and may even push Tehran towards escalating the conflict and increasing costs for the United States and its allies in the region.

New York Times: Trump's economic pressure won't make Iran surrender

The New York Times warned that the Trump administration's increased economic pressure is unlikely to force Iran to surrender and may even push Tehran towards escalating the conflict and increasing costs for the United States and its allies in the region.

The Fars News Agency International Group, the American newspaper The New York Times, pointed out in a report the negative consequences of Trump's economic pressure campaign against Iran and wrote that while the administration of US President Donald Trump has launched a new campaign to intensify economic pressure on Iran, Tehran is calculating that it can withstand the new pressures and, in return, transfer the costs of this pressure to the oil-rich Persian Gulf region.

Experts warn that as Iran’s economic crisis deepens, it is likely that Iran will respond to US pressure with a military escalation of the conflict, something the Trump administration is now trying to prevent, according to the New York Times.

Sina Toosi, an Iran expert at the Center for International Policy, says the main risk is that what the US administration calls “economic D-Day” will become a factor in escalating the conflict again, rather than a substitute for war.

He believes that as Washington pressures more countries to cut off Iran’s last economic routes, Tehran will be more motivated to show the costs of their participation in isolating Iran.

Trump’s “economic D-Day” against Iran

According to the report, in recent months, the confrontation between Iran and the US has become more of an economic battle over how to withstand the pressure.

In the same context, US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant announced a new package of measures to disrupt Iran’s economy on Monday, although he did not provide full details on how they would be implemented.

The Trump administration has used a military term to describe the intensity of the campaign, calling it “economic D-Day.”

The New York Times continued that the success of the campaign depends largely on Washington being able to bring Iran’s main trading partners, especially Turkey, Russia and China, on board.

Iran, in response, has considered the US economic measures another phase of a war that, according to its officials, began in February with the start of US and Israeli attacks.

In a statement, the Revolutionary Guard described the economic war as the “main battlefield” of the current confrontation.

After the announcement of the new US measures, Iranian Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh said that Tehran has the necessary tools to counter these pressures.

The report cited statements by Iran’s economy minister, who said Tehran had long been planning to counter new US sanctions and was “fully prepared for new sanctions.”

According to him, the Iranian government has a two-year plan to counter such pressures.

According to the report, as economic pressure has increased, Iranian officials have warned that if regional countries join the US campaign against Iran, they will pay the price.

Mohsen Rezaei, head of the Supreme Security Council, had previously warned that if Gulf countries join the US effort against Iran, “not even a drop” of oil will leave the region and these countries will be considered enemies.

According to the New York Times, the warnings by Iranian officials indicate that Tehran may try to push the costs of the confrontation beyond Iran’s borders in response to economic pressure and affect a region that is vital to the global economy.

From this perspective, economic pressure could become a factor in increasing the risk of military conflict, rather than reducing it.

Does Iran have a reason to surrender?

According to the New York Times, despite the economic pressure on Iran, Iranian officials believe that this pressure is essentially a continuation of the same policy that the United States has pursued over the past decades and that Tehran has experience in countering.

For this reason, some experts believe that economic pressure does not necessarily mean Iran's surrender.

Tusi warns that if Washington tries to block all of Iran's remaining economic routes, Tehran may have more incentive to show the costs of this policy.

In such a situation, what the United States has designed to prevent military escalation may in fact become a factor in escalating the conflict.

On the other hand, according to the report, experts warn that the intensification of sanctions will not necessarily transfer the main pressure to Iran's leaders and may affect ordinary people the most.

The New York Times report ultimately focuses on a fundamental contradiction in the new US policy: Washington wants to force Iran to back down and prevent a wider military conflict by intensifying economic pressure; but this same pressure may lead Tehran to conclude that it no longer has much to lose. In such a scenario, Iran may try to shift the costs of US pressure to Washington’s partners and regional countries, a move that could turn the economic crisis into a wider regional confrontation.