TEHRAN, Aug. 20 -- Iran's foreign ministry reached for the language of international criminal law on Thursday, and the choice of words is the point. Washington's sanctions, it said in a statement, will jeopardise the fundamental rights of every Iranian citizen, and are akin to economic terrorism and a crime against humanity.

The statement answers something specific. Donald Trump announced what he called an economic D-Day, promising in a Truth Social post the most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country and asking allies to stand with the United States to isolate and defeat what he described as the Iran threat, Al Jazeera reported.

The substance behind the capital letters is a threat of secondary consequences, and it i...