Iran updates: Iran officials push back against Trump's 'economic D-Day' threat

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it strongly condemned the "illegal and inhumane" threat of economic sanctions by the U.S. on the country.

The ministry called the sanctions "economic terrorism" and "a crime against humanity," and vowed to use "all means and capacities" to defend national sovereignty, in a statement Thursday.

"These sanctions, imposed following the one-and-a-half-year imposed wars by the American-Zionist alliance against Iran and their failure to advance their satanic objectives of forcing the Iranian nation to submit to their illegal and anti-human demands, merely lengthen the list of U.S. crimes committed against Iran. However, they will certainly have no effect whatsoever on the determination of Iranians to safeguard Iran's independence, dignity, and national sovereignty," the ministry said.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Centre on Thursday issued a warning after armed individuals hijacked a tanker in the Gulf of Aden.

A tanker was "boarded by six armed persons who are now in control of the vessel and redirecting to Somalia," the UKMTO said in its alert. The incident occurred about 136 nautical miles east of Al Mukalla, Yemen.

Initially, the ship broadcast a distress call about an authorized vessel approaching the tanker as it traveled west, the UKMTO said.

-ABC News' Othon Leyva

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Thursday responded to President Donald Trump's threat of a "crushing economic operation" against Tehran by suggesting that the U.S. is facing its own economic "crisis."

"The so-called 'Economic D-Day' is a diversion from America's own crisis: unprecedented debt & surging interest costs," Araghchi wrote in a post to X.

"Doubling down on failed policies will only bring further defeat -- and enmity of Iranians. US economic terrorism threatens global economy and sovereignty worldwide," he wrote.

-ABC News' Joe Simonetti

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that his administration is embarking on what he called the "MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY."

Trump made the announcement on his social media platform.

"Today, I am also announcing that ANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences," Trump said in the post. "Oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries, front companies — It all needs to stop NOW. You know who you are."

The announcement from the president is a ratcheting up of the already intense economic pressure that the U.S. has placed on Iran, including sanctions targeting Iran's oil sales and the naval blockade.

"This will be an ECONOMIC D-DAY, and we need all of our Allies to stand with the United States of America to isolate, and defeat, the Iran threat," Trump said in the post. "These maniacs are on the ropes, and these HISTORIC MEASURES will cripple them and their ability to project terror worldwide."

-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart