US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warns Iran faces the toughest sanctions yet, urging allies and China to cooperate as Washington seeks to isolate Tehran economically….reports Asian Lite News Desk
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has warned that Washington will impose what he described as the “toughest sanctions in history” on Iran, urging allies and China to support efforts to isolate Tehran and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Bessent said the United States was preparing a major new economic campaign against Iran after President Donald Trump announced what he called the “most crushing economic operation ever taken” against the country.
Speaking to CNBC on Thursday, Bessent said the measures would focus on cutting Iran off from key sources of revenue and limiting its ability to support proxy groups and other regional activities.
He indicated that Washington’s emphasis on maximum economic pressure could reduce the likelihood of another major US military operation against Iran.
“I’m not sure why oil has popped up on this,” Bessent said, referring to a rise in oil prices following the US announcement. “If we are doing the maximum economic pressure, then that means that likely there will not be a large-scale kinetic restart.”
Bessent said the United States would provide further details at a press conference on Monday, when he would explain “exactly what we’re going to do” against Iran.
“It is a one-two punch. We have the blockade, and we are going to have the toughest sanctions in history,” he said.
He added that the measures were intended to put further pressure on the Iranian economy and said Washington would seek to “collapse this regime”.
Bessent also urged countries maintaining economic ties with Tehran to support the US campaign, singling out China because of its reliance on energy supplies from the Gulf and its extensive purchases of Iranian oil.
When asked whether Washington could impose measures against China for continuing to do business with Iran, Bessent said some discussions were better conducted privately.
“Keep in mind that the Chinese get 50 per cent of their energy from inside the Gulf. So it would do them a big service to get with the programme,” he said.
China is a major buyer of Iranian oil and has accounted for more than 80 per cent of Iran’s seaborne oil exports, according to 2025 data from analytics firm Kpler. Any attempt by Washington to intensify economic pressure on China could also risk retaliation from Beijing, particularly given the importance of Chinese exports to the US economy, including critical minerals.
Bessent’s comments followed Trump’s announcement on Wednesday of an unprecedented economic campaign against Iran.
Trump warned countries providing financial, commercial or government support to Tehran that they could face “tremendous economic consequences”.
“No one has given the Islamic Republic of Iran a greater opportunity to make a Deal than me,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, before announcing what he called “Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale”.
He said the campaign would target Iran’s economic lifelines, including oil-smuggling networks, financial transfers, exchange houses, ship registries and front companies.
Trump also called on US allies to join Washington in isolating Tehran and reiterated his position that Iran must not be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon.
The latest threats have added to uncertainty surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important energy shipping routes.
The waterway has become a central flashpoint in the confrontation between Washington and Tehran, with disruptions to shipping raising concerns about energy supplies and global oil prices.
Trump has claimed that the strait remains open and that the US naval blockade has been effective, saying vessels were continuing to pass through the waterway.
Iran, however, has rejected the US pressure campaign.
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi criticised Trump’s announcement, describing the proposed measures as “economic terrorism” and accusing Washington of attempting to divert attention from its own economic problems.
In a post on X, Araghchi said the so-called “Economic D-Day” was a diversion from what he described as America’s “unprecedented debt and surging interest costs”.
He warned that continuing what he called failed US policies would deepen tensions and hostility towards Iran.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has also said Tehran would not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until Washington meets commitments under a 14-point memorandum of understanding.
Those conditions include lifting the blockade, releasing frozen Iranian assets and easing oil sanctions.
The United States also announced fresh sanctions against Lebanon’s Hezbollah on Thursday, further widening Washington’s pressure campaign against groups and networks linked to Iran.
The US Treasury Department said Hezbollah had been redesignated for providing services to the Iranian regime under the command of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force.
The new action is intended to disrupt Hezbollah’s financial networks and restrict access to international banking and commercial transactions.
Hezbollah has been designated by the United States as a Foreign Terrorist Organization since 1997 and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist since 2001.
The latest sanctions and Bessent’s warning point to a broader US strategy of using financial and economic pressure to constrain Iran rather than relying solely on military action.
The confrontation has already affected global energy markets, with oil prices rising after Washington’s latest threats.
