Bessent Vows Sanctions Will Collapse Iran's Regime

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday the Trump administration will use sweeping new sanctions to "collapse" Iran's government — and told American allies they are "either with us or against us."

Speaking on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street," Bessent said the pressure campaign likely removes the need for renewed combat: "If we are doing the maximum economic pressure, then that means that likely there will not be a large-scale kinetic restart."

He said the full framework will be laid out at a press conference Monday.

What Bessent Said

Bessent said Treasury will use secondary sanctions to punish countries and companies that keep doing business with Tehran. "If you insist on doing business with them — either transferring money, buying their oil, doing seaborne ship transfers — then the US Treasury and the US government will put its full might and force toward enforcing against you," he said, according to the New York Post.

"It is time for our allies and the rest of the world to make a decision, and we are going to squash the economy of this murderous regime," he added.

He argued the sanctions will "curtail their ability to project power through their proxies" and mean Iran "cannot pay the military," and said Iran is already running substantial food and general inflation.

"It is a one-two punch. We have the blockade, and we are going to have the toughest sanctions in history, and I will tell you this will work," Bessent said. "It worked in Venezuela once we put up the blockade. It is working in Cuba right now, and it is going to work in Iran — and we are going to collapse this regime."