US equity futures were edging lower pre-bell Thursday as traders monitored the situation in the Middle East, with the US announcing further economic pressure on Iran and threatening its trade partners.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 0.4% lower, S&P 500 futures were down 0.2%, and Nasdaq futures were 0.3% lower.

President Donald Trump said that Iran will be subject to economic warfare "on an unprecedented scale," while also threatening economic consequences on any country that assists or does business with the Middle Eastern nation. "Oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries, front companies - It all needs to stop NOW," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi in a post on X dismissed Trump's threat, calling it a diversion from America's challenges of "unprecedented debt & surging interest costs."

Traders assessed the latest round of earnings, with Walmart (WMT) posting higher fiscal Q2 adjusted earnings and revenue.

Oil prices were higher, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude up 2.9% at $94.26 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude 3.2% higher at $87.11 per barrel.

The weekly jobless claims bulletin, slated for 8:30 am ET, is expected to show 210,000 new unemployment claims for the week ended Aug. 15, up from 209,000 in the prior week, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The Philadelphia Fed's regional manufacturing index for August is seen coming in at 24.8, down from 41.4 posted previously.

July's leading indicators data is scheduled to be released 10 am ET.