Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced an imminent increase in economic pressure on Iran in a Sunday op-ed for the Financial Times.
“At dawn begins an economic D-Day — the single greatest financial offensive ever marshalled against an adversary,” Bessent wrote, echoing the language of a Wednesday social media post from President Donald Trump.
The op-ed did not disclose the concrete measures, which the secretary will unveil at a Monday press conference, but suggested that new punitive policies will be implemented against countries that continue economic dealings with Iran.
“Those who sever Iran’s remaining financial and commercial connectivity will reinvigorate their own. They will deepen their access to global capital, reinforce confidence in their markets and attain the standing they seek in the world economy,” Bessent wrote. “The alternative for those who tether themselves to Tehran is the foreclosure of any path to lasting prosperity…. And any nation that serves as a financial artery of a withering regime should expect to share in its isolation.”
The Trump administration has in recent weeks intensified “Operation Economic Fury” as military strikes fail to compel Iranian capitulation.
Iranian officials expressed defiance in response to Bessent’s announcement. “If the economic war continues, not a single drop of oil will be exported٫ neither through the Strait of Hormuz nor from anywhere in the Persian Gulf,” Mohsen Rezaei, the new head of Iran’s National Security Council, wrote Sunday on X. Iran will regard any country’s participation in or support for America’s economic war against the Iranian people as an act of war.”
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Mediators have not yet given up on brokering an end to the war. Pakistan’s military chief, Asim Munir, is set to visit Tehran Monday in an effort to revive moribund peace negotiations between Iran and the U.S.
Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains depressed, per Kpler tracking data. Iran’s new Persian Gulf Strait Authority listed 45 ships subject to fine, detention, or cargo confiscation for avoiding the Iranian-controlled channel through the strait.
Brent crude opened Monday at $93.45 per barrel. AAA reported a national average price of $4.10 per gallon of regular gasoline.
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