Trump's Economic Siege on Iran, China and BRICS Stand in the Way

The U.S. economic siege hinges on getting China and other major powers to stop supporting Iran, which will be difficult.

The U.S. cannot crush Iran's economy alone and needs outside cooperation, but China's own interests may prevent full alignment with U.S. goals.

China can cheaply resolve Iran's inflation and stabilize its economy, but Iran's distance from China risks enabling the U.S. economic siege.

Iran's potential military offensives may cause short-term economic pain for U.S. allies but will not win over China or Russia in the long term.

Trump is messaging that higher gas prices are worth the sacrifice to stop Iran's nuclear program, but the American public will likely reject this.

The U.S. deep state has the institutional stability to pursue a long-term siege against Iran regardless of electoral changes, as seen in Syria.

The U.S. calculation is that Europe will remain tied to the U.S. and endure economic hardship without breaking the alliance. Iran should not rely on European political crises to collapse U.S. policy, as past reliance on Europe during the JCPOA failed.