Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent can’t wait to follow in the footsteps of President Trump and announce the economic strangulation of Iran. “It is a one-two punch. We have the blockade [on Iran], and we are going to have the toughest sanctions in history,” Bessent told CNBC yesterday, reported Reuters. “It is going to work in Iran and we are going to collapse this regime.”
“It is time for our allies and the rest of the world to make a decision,” he said, demanding that they join the Iran-bashing economic warfare.
Contrary to Trump’s expectations, the price of oil went up following his declaration of economic war on Iran the night before. Bessent had a rejoinder ready: “I think oil markets are misinterpreting what this economic pressure means,” Bessent said. “We have asymmetric information, and I’m not sure why oil has popped up on this.”
At the same time, Bessent claimed that economic pressure means that further military action will be unnecessary. “If we are doing the maximum economic pressure, then that means that likely there will not be a large-scale kinetic restart,” he said.
When asked if the United States was planning to target China for doing business with Iran, Bessent said many conversations were best to have in private. “We are confident that everyone wants the Strait [of Hormuz] reopened, and for energy prices to come back down,” he said. “Keep in mind that the Chinese get 50% [of their] energy from inside the Gulf. So it would do them a big service to get with the program.”
In response to Bessent’s demand that China join the U.S. economic warfare against Iran, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Friday that “China opposes illicit unilateral sanctions that lack basis in international law and UN Security Council mandate. We call on parties to act responsibly and stick to the political and diplomatic approach.”
Global Times was more harsh, as we report elsewhere.
