U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a campaign to cut Iran off from the global economy, warning that any nation conducting business with Tehran risks secondary sanctions. The initiative, coordinated with President Donald Trump’s direct outreach to world leaders, requires countries to halt economic cooperation with Iran within a defined timeline or face unilateral U.S. action.
The campaign focuses on five critical sectors of Iran’s economy: digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping. Bessent described the effort as an "economic onslaught" and "economic asphyxiation of this regime" during a Washington press conference. He emphasized that no entity, including major Chinese banks, would be exempt from U.S. sanctions.
The Treasury simultaneously imposed sanctions on 60 new entities linked to Iran, though the list excluded several large Chinese firms facilitating Tehran’s oil trade. Iran’s Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh responded by asserting that China and Russia—its top trading partners—had not accepted the new restrictions. He warned of retaliatory measures and claimed state television was prepared for the sanctions, while Iran’s Revolutionary Guard threatened "heavy blows" to U.S. interests and energy chokepoints if Iranian infrastructure came under threat.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi reported "significant progress" in recent talks in Tehran aimed at regional stability, though Iran has stated it will not resume direct negotiations with the U.S. until Washington complies with terms from a June memorandum of understanding that later collapsed. Prior to the announcement, Iranian officials had threatened to further restrict oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, where flows remain at a fraction of prewar levels.
The campaign marks a sharp escalation in U.S. economic pressure on Iran, following Trump’s direct appeals to foreign governments to sever economic ties with Tehran.
