US threatens sweeping financial campaign against Iran and its trading partners
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington would launch what he called the "single greatest financial offensive" against Iran, warning countries that continue trading with Tehran of serious economic consequences. Writing in the Financial Times ahead of a scheduled Monday press conference, Bessent said President Trump had already battered Iran's economy, pushing the rial to record lows and inflation to unusually high levels, and argued the campaign is designed to push Tehran back to the negotiating table to end the ongoing conflict.
Bessent accused unnamed "enabler" nations of buying Iranian petroleum, ignoring illicit seaborne fuel transfers and misusing their banking systems to help Tehran evade sanctions, warning such countries risk becoming "global pariahs" while those who cut ties would gain better access to global capital markets. He added that Trump would "respond swiftly and decisively" to any Iranian military retaliation. In response, Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei threatened to target the interests of neighbouring states that cooperate with the US crackdown and warned Iran could block oil shipments through the Persian Gulf, though Gulf states including Saudi Arabia and the UAE have developed alternative export routes to reduce reliance on the Strait of Hormuz.
- Bessent vows an unprecedented US financial offensive against Iran
- Warns nations trading with Tehran risk becoming "global pariahs"
- Iran's Rezaei threatens retaliation and possible Gulf oil blockade
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Iran's economy has already been under heavy strain from years of sanctions, and this is the latest escalation in a long-running standoff with the United States, which accuses Tehran of pursuing dangerous weapons programmes and destabilising the wider region. The two sides have been in and out of direct or indirect conflict for months, with Washington using economic pressure as its main lever alongside occasional military action.
Scott Bessent is the US Treasury Secretary and the official responsible for enforcing sanctions policy. His warnings are aimed not just at Iran but at other countries and companies that buy Iranian oil or help move money and goods around existing restrictions, since sanctions only work if other nations cooperate with them. The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow shipping route near Iran, matters because a huge share of the world's oil passes through it, so any threat to block it raises concerns about global energy supplies and prices.
This story matters because it shows Washington trying to force Iran back into negotiations by squeezing its economy and isolating countries that trade with it, while Iran is signalling it could retaliate against both the US and its regional allies. The outcome could affect oil markets, relations between the US and Gulf states, and the wider question of whether the conflict between Washington and Tehran escalates further or moves towards talks.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Supporters of the campaign argue that sustained, coordinated financial pressure is one of the few non-military levers capable of pushing Tehran back to the negotiating table and curbing behaviour the US and its allies view as destabilising, including alleged weapons programmes and regional proxy activity. They contend that sanctions-evasion networks – illicit oil sales, seaborne transfers and misuse of banking channels – directly fund activities that threaten regional and global security, so cutting off these revenue streams is a legitimate and proportionate response. Framing compliant nations as gaining better access to capital markets, they argue, offers a genuine incentive rather than pure punishment, and warning of consequences in advance is intended to change behaviour peacefully rather than provoke conflict.
The case against
Critics argue that sweeping secondary sanctions threatening third countries amount to an extraterritorial overreach that coerces sovereign nations' trade and banking decisions under threat of exclusion from the global financial system, regardless of their own security interests or bilateral relationships with Iran. They point out that broad financial offensives of this kind have historically inflicted disproportionate hardship on ordinary Iranian civilians through currency collapse and inflation, while doing little to alter the strategic calculus of the state itself. There is also concern that escalating rhetoric and pressure, especially alongside warnings of a swift military response, raises the risk of miscalculation or retaliation – such as threats to Gulf shipping routes – that could destabilise the wider region rather than bring about a negotiated resolution.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Trump’s Treasury chief vows to launch massive financial warfare against Iran as US seeks to cripple ‘tyrannical’ regime”.