Iran taps financial lifeline, Russian arms as Trump escalates ‘crushing’ economic warfare
Behnam Ben Taleblu says Tehran is working to enmesh itself with Moscow and Beijing against U.S. economic pressure
August 19, 2026 9:09pm EDT / Fox News
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Tehran is deepening its financial and military ties with Beijing and Moscow, forging a critical lifeline as it seeks to circumvent U.S. sanctions and weather Washington’s renewed “maximum pressure” campaign, regional security analysts warned Wednesday.
As the U.S. continues to ramp up Operation Economic Fury, Iran, they say, has turned to non-Western blocs and alliances to unite further with Russia and China while positioning itself as a “linchpin” in a network that directly challenges American influence.
The warning came as President Donald Trump announced Wednesday what he called the “most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country,” threatening sweeping consequences for nations and businesses that provide Iran with an economic lifeline as he seeks to further isolate Tehran.
“This will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale,” Trump said in a post shared on Truth Social.
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Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Chief Justice of Iran Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and IRGC Commander General Mohsen Rezaee attend a ceremony in Tehran, Iran, July 3, 2026.(Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“The Islamic Republic is looking to survive, but in order to survive, it needs to adapt,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Iran Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), told Fox News Digital.
“It needs to adapt not just to U.S. and Israeli military pressure, but this U.S. political and economic pressure.
“There’s no doubt the Islamic Republic is looking to maximize its enmeshment with countries like Russia and China that have been subject to U.S. political and economic pressure in the past.”
BRICS, an economic bloc consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and several recent expansion nations, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a Eurasian political, economic and security alliance led by Beijing and Moscow, have become key vehicles for Iran’s outreach of late.
Trump has previously labeled BRICS policies “anti-American,” CNBC reported.
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Abdolnaser Hemmati, governor of the Central Bank of Iran, said Tehran will soon join the BRICS-backed New Development Bank, though the bank told Reuters it could not confirm Iran’s membership.
“The most important result of cooperation among BRICS member countries is the establishment of the New Development Bank, and our country will soon become a member of this bank,” Hemmati said, according to state media.
“You can see Iran trying to benefit from its role in BRICS, as well as a constellation of other organizations, that really would allow itself to be shielded — or try to make itself more shielded — from U.S. political and economic pressure,” Taleblu explained.
“The Islamic Republic is looking to be more formally integrated into economic orders brought about by Russia and China, which are looking to contest the U.S. dollar as much as they’re looking to contest U.S. power and influence.
“It is quite key and important for policymakers in Washington to wake up and see how interconnected these state threats are becoming.
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“These are independent relationships that have been coming together. They have differences, but as an authoritarian axis, these are countries that are better able to manage their differences at present than it seems like America and the liberal western order are able to handle their differences.”
NBC News also reported Aug. 17 that Russia is supplying Iran with ammunition, drone components and TNT via Caspian Sea shipping routes, citing a European government document verified by a Western official.
The report comes amid indications that Tehran is relying on Russian technology and military support to adapt to U.S. military and economic pressure.
“Even limited technology and military flows from Russia to the Islamic Republic help it fight to survive, adapt and live another day to combat the U.S. order in the region,” Taleblu said.
“In the short term, there is less transaction cost on this anti-American authoritarian order that is fast emerging than there is on the pro-American order.”
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Taleblu also highlighted Iran’s dual role in what he terms the “Axis of Aggressors,” a coalition of hostile, authoritarian states including Russia, China and North Korea, and the “Axis of Resistance,” Tehran’s network of regional proxy groups including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and Shiite militias in Iraq.
“They all have hostile intentions towards the U.S. and the liberal world order. They are authoritarians at home and creditors abroad.
He also noted that even if Tehran’s economic goals within BRICS fail to fully materialize, the political and military backing it gets from Moscow and Beijing is significant.
“So, even if what the Islamic Republic wants from the BRICS countries, particularly the likes of Russia and China, doesn’t happen, that doesn’t mean that political, economic and military support to this regime at a critical time is not happening.
“The linchpin between the state threats that the U.S. faces in the 21st century, from the Axis of Aggressors and the non-state threats in the Middle East, is the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Taleblu clarified.
“It is actually a bridge for capabilities, money and technology from states to flow to non-state actors.”
Emma Bussey is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital. Before joining Fox, she worked at The Telegraph with the U.S. overnight team, across desks including foreign, politics, news, sport and culture.