Middle East Conflict/ US Pledges to Impose “Toughest Sanctions” in History on Iran

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the United States would impose the “toughest sanctions in history” on Tehran and suggested that plans to increase economic pressure mean major US military attacks on Iran are unlikely to resume anytime soon.

“It’s a double whammy. ⁠We have the blockade [of Iranian ports], and we will have the toughest sanctions in history,” Bessent told the US network CNBC on August 20. “This will work in Iran, and we will bring down this regime.”

Bessent’s comments came a day after US President Donald Trump threatened Iran with “economic warfare and isolation on an extraordinary scale” and warned that any state providing support to Iran would face severe economic consequences.

In addition to pressure on Tehran, “ANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports or government entities to provide any kind of vital support to Iran will itself face EXTRAORDINARY economic CONSEQUENCES,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform late on August 19.

“This will be the greatest coordinated economic isolation in the history of the world,” Bessent said. “And we will tell [our allies] that you are either with us or against us.”

Neither Trump nor Bessent provided many details. Bessent told CNBC that on August 24 he would hold a press conference “to talk exactly about what we are going to do.”

As oil prices rose on August 20, Bessent said he believed oil markets were “misinterpreting what this economic pressure means. If we are applying maximum economic pressure, then that means it is likely that there will not be a resumption of a large-scale kinetic operation.”

“Kinetic,” in this context, refers to military action.

Trump’s warnings came in a social media post in which he said Tehran had failed to reach an agreement with the US.

The post came several hours after Trump said negotiations with Iran could resume “at some point,” but expressed satisfaction with the current situation, saying: “For the moment, I think the situation is very good.”

These developments come after the expiration of the 60-day negotiation period established under a memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran, signed in June. The memorandum was intended to establish a framework for ending the conflict, preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and restoring freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

The United States says Iran violated the June agreement by attacking commercial vessels in the strait during July, prompting the resumption of US military action. The US-Israel war against Iran began on February 28./RFE