Trump announced a 25 percent duty on Iran's partner countries

Any country that does business with Iran will face a 25% duty "on any and all transactions conducted with the United States of America," US President Donald Trump said on Monday, January 12. The new levy takes effect immediately, he wrote on the social media network Truth Social. "This executive order is final and not subject to review," Trump added.

Iran's partners include not only neighboring countries but also major economies, including India, Turkey and China, Bloomberg notes. An additional duty of 25% on goods from China poses a risk of disrupting the trade truce reached with Chinese President Xi Jinping late last year. China remains the largest buyer of Iranian oil, the agency explains.

The U.S. leader has previously promised to intervene in Iran, where mass protests are taking place, if local authorities start suppressing them too harshly. On Sunday, Trump told reporters that official Tehran has made contact with Washington to start talks, and such a meeting is now being prepared, although without specifying a timeframe, Bloomberg reports. "We are taking this very seriously. The issue is being handled by military commanders and we are looking at tough options," the president said. - I'm getting reports every hour, and a decision will be made."

Trump has not ruled out airstrikes, White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt said Monday. She said he is allowing any options for action: the first option is diplomacy, but "the president has shown that he is not afraid to use the deadly force and power of the U.S. military if he deems it necessary." According to an unnamed Bloomberg administration source, Trump was presented with a wide range of military options over the weekend, including strikes on non-militarized targets. The source confirmed that the president is seriously considering an attack on Iran.

After two weeks of demonstrations, the Islamic republic's leadership announced on January 12 that security forces had established "full control" over Iran. It also said it had "a lot of evidence showing that the U.S. and Israel interfered [in the protests]." According to Human Rights Activists News Agency, more than 500 people were killed in the protests.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor