Bessent Vows Iran Sanctions 'Never Seen Before'
Bessent Vows Iran Sanctions 'Never Seen Before'
The News
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday the United States will impose economic isolation on Iran "like the world has never seen before," with new measures expected next week.
Bessent tied the financial squeeze to the ongoing naval pressure. "It will be a combination of economic isolation like the world has never seen before, and the continued blockade in the Strait of Hormuz," he said, according to CNBC.
Bloomberg reported the administration will roll out what it bills as unprecedented economic measures against Iran, part of an effort to force Tehran's capitulation through financial pressure rather than further bombing.
Timeline
The Telegraph reported that President Trump, reluctant to resume an all-out offensive as the military campaign falters, was turning to his treasury secretary to bring the Iranian regime to heel.
Vice President JD Vance said the top US priority in the Iran war is keeping oil and gasoline prices low for Americans, with preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon ranking second, Newsmax reported. The Washington Examiner reported Vance called lower gas prices "goal No. 1."
Bessent told reporters the US would apply measures never seen before against Iran, Reuters reported.
Bloomberg reported the "economic isolation" plan is set to be announced next week.
Reactions
Vance's framing of the war's aims — cheap fuel first, the nuclear program second — contrasted with Trump's own repeated framing of the conflict, Newsmax noted.
Fox News host Bret Baier pressed Energy Secretary Chris Wright on the president's claims about the Strait of Hormuz, telling him bluntly, "That does not sound like total control," according to Mediaite.
Vance faced similar pressure on Fox News over the war's zigzagging course. "We're close to a deal, then we're going to bomb the hell out of them. The strait is open, then the strait's closed," the host said, per Mediaite.
CNN wrote that Trump's Iran headaches are mounting, arguing the war has not gone well for the president since shortly after it began.
On the right, Citizen Free Press cast Bessent's assignment as a fresh strategy that "might work" against Iran's economy.
What's Next
The Treasury Department's package is expected to be announced next week, per Bessent and Bloomberg.
The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz continues in the meantime. CNBC reported the Navy is working to relieve the troubled carrier Abraham Lincoln.
Watch whether oil and gas prices — the benchmark Vance himself set — move as the sanctions land.
More
The shift matters because it concedes something in public: after weeks of strikes, the administration is betting that Iran's balance sheet, not its bunkers, is the pressure point. The Telegraph framed the handoff to Bessent as a direct consequence of a military campaign that has stalled.
Poll question for readers: Is economic pressure more likely than airstrikes to end the Iran war?
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