Cairo/Washginton: The United States and Iran exchanged defiant messages ahead of Monday's scheduled announcement of new U.S. economic sanctions that could impact the Islamic Republic and Tehran's most important trading partners including China.
As the war neared six months old, the two sides were not exchanging fire but also not pursuing peace talks. All the while, oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz have virtually halted as Tehran clings to its leverage by threatening to strike any unauthorized oil tankers that attempt to transit the narrow waterway.
