US imposes fresh sanctions on Iran, targeting oil, gold and tech sectors
The Trump administration on Monday unveiled new economic sanctions on Iran, freezing key revenue streams including oil, gas, gold, technology and shipping as Washington widened a naval blockade of Iranian ports.
Source: Al Jazeera · August 25, 2026 at 12:01 AM · AI-assisted report
Corroborated
KUALA LUMPUR, 25 AUGUST 2026 —
The Trump administration on Monday unveiled new economic sanctions on Iran, freezing key revenue streams including oil, gas, gold, technology and shipping as Washington widened a naval blockade of Iranian ports.
Market Impact
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called the measures an “economic D-Day” and warned trading partners they risk secondary penalties if they continue dealing with Tehran. The package targets 60 individuals and vessels linked to Singapore, China and Hong Kong, including parts of Iran’s state-linked shipping fleet that Washington says moves oil and sensitive weapons components.
Tehran-based geopolitical analyst Peiman Salehi told Al Jazeera the new curbs leave Iran with “much less room than it did in previous years to simply work around sanctions.”
Rachel Ziemba, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said the measures are “mostly incremental” but serve as a warning to remaining trade partners. “There’s a lot of signalling and bluster aimed at getting other countries to crack down on entities involved in grey-zone trade,” she said, referring to unsanctioned but hard-to-trace commerce.
The restrictions also indefinitely suspend broad exceptions for academic exchanges, personal money transfers and certain sporting activities, giving organisations until September 8 to wind down operations. Ziemba noted these steps “will have more effect on Iranians, not just the regime.”
The latest penalties deepen pressure on a market already tightened by the six-month-old conflict between the US, Israel and Iran. Washington first imposed sanctions on Iran in 1979 and expanded them over the following decades. They were briefly paused after the 2015 nuclear deal but rebounded after the Trump administration withdrew in 2018. Fresh penalties were added throughout 2025 and early 2026, including measures aimed at Iranian oil shipping networks and cryptocurrency channels.
For global consumers, the squeeze is showing up at the petrol pump. The American Automobile Association reports the national average for a gallon of petrol rose to $4.09 on Monday from $2.98 on February 28, the day the US and Israel first struck Iran. Higher crude prices are also feeding into food costs as fertiliser and transport expenses climb.
Wall Street reacted cautiously. The price of gold, a traditional haven in uncertain times, jumped 0.8% to $4,639.49 per ounce, while Brent crude fell more than 2% to $85.22 a barrel after two weeks of gains. Major US equity indices were mixed: the Nasdaq slid 0.5%, the S&P 500 dipped 0.2%, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.2% higher.
For Malaysian business, any sustained rise in global oil prices increases the cost of imported crude, which the country still consumes even as it expands domestic production. Power utilities and transport firms would face higher fuel bills, potentially feeding into consumer prices.
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