Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian on Thursday, firmly rejected U.S. efforts to isolate Iran economically, stating that "sanctions and pressure will not help resolve the issue." Beijing opposed what it termed "illegal unilateral sanctions" that lack a basis in international law or authorization from the UN Security Council.

Instead, China called on all parties to "take responsible measures" and resolve the Middle East conflict through "political and diplomatic means."

"China always believes military actions, sanctioning, pressuring do not help solve the problem; it only builds up the tensions in the current situation," Lin said. "China opposes any illegal, unilateral sanctions without authorization of the UN Security Council... We urge the relevant party to solve the current dispute through negotiations and dialogue."

This rebuke came in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of an "economic D-Day" and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s vow to impose the "toughest sanctions in history" to "collapse" the Iranian regime.

The Treasury secretary is explicitly targeting third-party nations buying Iranian oil or enabling capital flows—aiming much of this pressure directly at China, Iran's largest trade partner. He warned that any state extending a "lifeline" to Tehran would feel the "full force of the U.S. Treasury."

Bessent urged China to "get with the program," arguing that Beijing’s reliance on Gulf energy supplies would be served by joining the campaign.

However, Beijing maintained that such coercive tactics are ineffective and contrary to the interests of all parties involved.

Trump has also touted U.S. Central Command's (CENTCOM) naval blockade as "extremely effective" at cutting off Iranian shipping, while claiming the Strait of Hormuz remains "open and operating" under U.S. oversight. Tehran countered that it maintains operational control over the waterway, imposing transit fees and alternative routes while characterizing Washington's blockade as illegal "economic terrorism."

While the U.S. claims control over the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian officials have called the blockade and sanctions "economic terrorism" and vowed that the Strait will remain closed until the U.S. meets Iran's conditions.

"14 years ago: 'Most crippling sanctions in history.' Failed. 8 years ago: 'Maximum pressure.' Failed. 5 months ago: 'Unconditional surrender.' Failed. Today: Most crushing economic operation ever. Bound to fail. We have seen this movie before. Same bull. Different bullies," Iran Foreign Minister

The conflict between the U.S. and Iran is in its sixth month and peace talks have stalled, with Washington shifting from military strikes to economic warfare after military objectives proved unrealistic.

Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket launched the QPS-SAR-18 satellite, nicknamed SUSANOO-II, for the Japanese company iQPS on Thursday (Aug. 20). The "The Lightning God Defends," mission lifted off at 1304 UTC from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand.

The nine 3D-printed Rutherford engines that power Electron's first stage shut off as planned about 2.5 minutes after liftoff. Separation with the rocket's second stage immediately followed, which burned for another 6.5 minutes before releasing Electron's "kick stage" with the IQPS payload for a 40-minute coast phase. SUSANOO-II (nicknamed after a Japanese lightning god) was deployed into a 575-kilometer low Earth orbit about 50 minutes after launch.

The launch adds to iQPS’s expanding constellation of 36 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites designed to provide near-real-time, high-resolution Earth imagery every 10 minutes.

SAR technology allows the satellites to peer through cloud cover and operate day or night, supporting applications in maritime domain awareness, disaster response, and defense monitoring under Japan’s Ministry of Defense. The satellite utilizes a patented 3.6-meter X-band mesh antenna to achieve sub-meter resolution while remaining lightweight enough for the Electron rocket.

The iQPS network "is being developed and deployed at a rapid pace to provide high resolution and near-real time SAR imagery to its global users," Rocket Lab wrote in "The Lightning God Defends" mission description.

Following Thursday's deployment, nine additional dedicated Electron launches remain booked by iQPS to complete the constellation by 2030. This mission succeeded the previous launch of QPS-SAR-13 (Mikura-I) on August 6, which occurred after a five-week delay caused by a launch abort on June 30, 2026.

The continued block-buying of dedicated launches underscores the necessity of precise orbital insertion for iQPS’s Walker-class constellation geometry, which cannot be achieved through cheaper rideshare options. Rocket Lab also operates a suborbital variant of Electron called HASTE, which allows customers to test sensors and other tech in the hypersonic flight environment.

Thursday's launch marked Rocket Lab’s 93rd overall Electron mission and its 14th launch of 2026, continuing a partnership with a 100% mission success rate for iQPS deployments.

President Donald Trump announced via Truth Social early morning UTC Thursday, that the United States is launching against Iran, what he claimed to be the "most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country," framing the move as "economic warfare and isolation on an unprecedented scale."

Trump declared that Iran had "failed to take" a greater opportunity to make a deal, justifying the escalation by claiming Iran’s navy is gone, its air force destroyed, and its currency worthless. He issued a stark warning that any country allowing its financial institutions, businesses, or government entities to provide a lifeline to Iran would face "tremendous economic consequences."

The President demanded an immediate stop to oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries, and front companies, calling the announcement an "ECONOMIC D-DAY" and urging allies to join the effort to isolate Tehran.

The announcement comes as peace talks remain at a complete impasse, with the Iranians and Trump confirming there are "no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled" with Iran. The U.S. had previously agreed to a 60-day ceasefire in a June Memorandum of Understanding with Iran, but that deal expired without renewal.

Iran remains defiant, with parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf stating the Strait of Hormuz will not be reopened until the U.S. meets specific demands: lifting the U.S. naval blockade of Iran's ports, removing sanctions on Iran’s oil and gas sales and unfreezing Iranian assets held abroad.

Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway responsible for nearly a fifth of global petroleum transit, has been effectively closed to traffic by Iran since early March, with the U.S. military describing its own naval blockade of Iran as "100% successful" and having redirected 65 vessels. Trump recently threatened "to bomb the shit out of" Oman, if the nation bypassed the U.S. blockade to broker independent commercial shipping routes with Iran.

The UAE recently halted trade with Iran following accusations that Tehran fired ballistic missiles at the country, Iranian officials denied the accusations. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has demanded Iraq crack down on Iran-backed militia leaders over ongoing attacks against its oil facilities.

U.S. and Israel launched massive military operations against Iran on February 28. In response, Tehran restricted passage through the Strait of Hormuz and demanded an immediate end to Washington’s maritime containment.

With peace negotiations abandoned and secondary economic sanctions taking effect, the conflict continues to drive global energy market volatility. Oil prices have risen above $90 a barrel as investors worry about prolonged inflation shocks.

"Americans think squeezing Iran harder will win concessions that were never part of the agreement,"  Ghalibaf wrote on X. "Bessent and Hegseth are way out of their league. Stop waiting for the clown crew to pull a rabbit out of their hat and clean up the mess you made."