From Tehran, a warning has been issued that carries the weight of a civilization feeling encircled: any nation that joins Washington's economic campaign against Iran will be counted among its enemies. Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezai, speaking on state television, framed the American pressure as an act of war conducted through commerce rather than cannon — and promised consequences in kind. The statement arrives at a moment when the world's smaller powers must choose between the gravity of American alliance and the risk of Iranian reprisal, a choice that reveals how economic instruments have