Baghdad, Aug. 21 -- Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has called for Iranian and Iraqi business leaders to develop a plan to beat "cruel sanctions," after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned Tehran of the "toughest sanctions in history".

"If you look at the resources and raw materials of Muslim countries, you will realise that our enemies are coming to plunder them, so we must plan for cruel sanctions in this situation so that we can overcome it," Ghalibaf declared during an address to a joint assembly of commercial representatives in Iraq.

He argued that the conflict with the US and Israel has shifted from the battlefield to money and influence.

"The Americans and Israelis have realised that they cannot handle...