Iran has said it will retaliate against expanded United States sanctions aimed at isolating its economy.Tehran expressed confidence that big ‌trading partners would resist the pressure campaign and said Washington was keen to revive talks. Almost six months into a conflict the US has struggled to resolve, treasury secretary Scott Bessent announced the measures on Monday but stopped short of the most punishing sanctions.While he said ​countries that continued trading with Iran risked being forced out of the dollar-based financial system, he declined to give a timeline or identify which may be targeted, saying he would give them time to comply with the new directive.Abbas Golroo, head of the foreign relations committee in the Iranian parliament, said Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, had delivered a message from the US to Iran on Monday.“It seems the main goal was to revive the stopped political process,” he told the Isna news agency. There was no immediate comment from the White House ​or the state department.Iran expressed a general willingness to resume peace talks during meetings between Iranian and Pakistani officials, while expressing concern about the sanctions, said a Pakistani government source. “Pakistan told them the US will reverse those ⁠decisions either before, or during a new round of negotiations,” the official said.The US treasury department announced new sanctions on 60 individuals, entities and vessels, but the list did not feature any of the Chinese financial ‌institutions ‌suspected ​of facilitating Iran’s oil trade. China has been the biggest buyer of Iranian oil for several years, although the US blockade of Iran’s ports has cut Iranian oil flows to China since Washington renewed it in mid-July.US president Donald Trump has said he expects to host Chinese president Xi Jinping next month; Washington is keen to avoid any curbs ⁠on China’s exports of critical minerals.China said on Tuesday that its co-operation with Iran ​is conducted within the framework of international law and should not be interfered with or disrupted. Oil prices fell for ​a second day as traders brushed off the impact of the sanctions, although market participants remained wary of Iran’s continued ability to disrupt shipping.An oil tanker was struck on Tuesday by an ‌unidentified projectile and disabled about 17km northeast of Oman’s Ash Shishah, ​which lies at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said. Oman’s foreign minister arrived in Iran on Tuesday to discuss future arrangements for the Strait. After the latest sanctions were ⁠announced, Iranian economy minister Ali Madanizadeh said that Iran was prepared to respond.“The enemies should ⁠wait for an attack,” he told state television. Neither China ​nor Russia had “accepted” the US measures, he added, predicting that other countries would resist them.There have been no big US or Iranian strikes for weeks, but a spokesperson for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said there would be heavy blows to US interests and energy chokepoints if Iran’s infrastructure is threatened.Iran and the United States signed an interim deal in June aimed at ending the war that began with US and Israeli attacks on Iran in February, but it quickly faltered and Iran resumed ship attacks that have strangled energy exports from the Gulf.Mediator Pakistan made “significant progress” in the latest talks with Tehran that focused on preventing further escalation and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the Pakistani military said.The New York Times ‌cited a US state department document saying that US diplomats ⁠evacuated during the war could start returning to the Middle East as early as this week.It was unclear if it was linked to the mediation attempt.Thousands of people have died in ​the conflict, most of them in Iran and Lebanon, while much of Iran’s conventional military capacity has been degraded, its economy is struggling and then-supreme leader ​Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed.But Tehran is still able to attack Gulf neighbours and threaten oil tankers. The exact state of its nuclear programme, which the US and Israel aim to wipe out, remains unknown. – Reuters