Trump Bets on Iran Sanctions Before Midterms
Trump Bets on Iran Sanctions Before Midterms
The News
The Trump administration has shifted its roughly six-month-old war with Iran into an economic pressure campaign — and it is now bumping into the rest of the president's foreign policy.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent unveiled "Operation Economic Outcast" on Monday, threatening to cut off any country that keeps doing business with Iran.
The problem: about 90% of Iran's crude went to China before the war started, and going after Chinese banks would put a U.S.-China trade truce at risk.
Timeline
The war with Iran is now roughly six months old. Reporting from The Atlantic and MSNBC says it has overtaxed the U.S. military, strained regional alliances, and left Iran with more regional influence than it had before the fighting began.
Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in May, extending a trade truce between the two countries.
In July, food prices in Iran ran 128% higher than a year earlier.
On Monday, Bessent announced the sanctions campaign.
On Tuesday, Iran's currency hit an all-time low of 2.05 million rials to the dollar.
The Strait of Hormuz remains contested. Iran continues to menace shipping and has insisted on charging transit fees.
Reactions
One Trump adviser told reporters the strategy is simply about timing: "We're just trying to hang on until the midterms."
Trump has privately told political allies he would declare victory once the strait reopens, according to a senior administration official and an outside adviser cited in the reporting.
In Tehran, Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh pointed to a two-year self-sufficiency plan on state television. Iranian authorities say they can absorb the sanctions but have warned of a hard year ahead, Al Jazeera reported.
Coverage splits on motive. The Atlantic frames the pivot as a way to push the war out of voters' minds before November; MSNBC argues the campaign endangers U.S. trade with China and India.
What's Next
Trump and Xi are expected to meet next month, which complicates any move against Chinese buyers of Iranian oil.
Democrats are favored to take the House in November; the Senate is rated a toss-up.
The open questions: whether Washington actually sanctions Chinese entities and how Beijing answers, whether Iran can outlast the pressure, and what the administration has left if the strait is still contested after Election Day.
More
Sources for this story: The Atlantic, MSNBC, Al Jazeera and Iran International.
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