US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s comments underscored how Trump is shifting to economic rather than military pressure on Tehran as his unpopular war drags towards the six-month mark.
Under pressure at home over the impact of the war and with crucial midterm elections looming, Trump had on Aug 19 promised the “most crushing” economic operation ever against Iran.
“It is going to work in Iran and we are going to collapse this regime,” Bessent told US broadcaster CNBC.
Bessent underlined that Washington expects both allies and rivals to join the ramped-up campaign on Iran.
“This is going to be the greatest coordinated economic isolation in the history of the world. And we are going to them and saying you are either with us or against us,” he added in a message to allies.
Asked whether the US would pressure China, Bessent said “many conversations are best to have in private”, but called on Beijing “to get with the programme”.
.@SecScottBessent: “This is going to be the greatest coordinated economic isolation in the history of the world… It is a one-two punch — we have a blockade and we are going to have the toughest sanctions in history.” https://t.co/yzRzdD53uM pic.twitter.com/SxPwxEgX3j
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 20, 2026
Chinese President Xi Jinping is due to visit the White House on Sept 24, when the topic of Iran is sure to come up, as it did when Trump travelled to Beijing for a summit in May.
Bessent said the economic plan meant the US is less likely to have to return to heavy military operations against Iran.
“If we are doing the maximum economic pressure, then that means that likely there will not be a large-scale kinetic restart, but I will emphasise that is for now,” Bessent said.
The US treasury chief said he would give further details of the economic measures against Iran in a press conference on Aug 24.
‘Economic terrorism’
Iran dismissed Trump’s plan.
“The so-called ‘Economic D-Day’ is a diversion from America’s own crisis: unprecedented debt & surging interest costs,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X.
The so-called “Economic D-Day” is a diversion from America’s own crisis: unprecedented debt & surging interest costs.
Doubling down on failed policies will only bring further defeat—and enmity of Iranians. US economic terrorism threatens global economy and sovereignty worldwide pic.twitter.com/Qj5SzVBjvX
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) August 20, 2026
The Iranian Foreign Ministry called the sanctions threats “economic terrorism”.
Trump said earlier this week that talks with Iran were on hold for now as the war started by the US and Israel on Feb 28 appears stalemated.
Tehran is keeping the key Strait of Hormuz partially shut, and Washington is persisting with a naval counter-blockade of Iran.
Trump has insisted that Iran cannot be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon as part of any deal. However, nearly half a year of war has failed to force Tehran to give up its enriched uranium or abandon its stated plans for nuclear energy.
A new US aircraft carrier strike group arrived in the Middle East on Aug 19, after grim conditions aboard a long-deployed carrier provoked fresh domestic criticism of Trump’s war.
The USS George Washington is replacing the USS Abraham Lincoln, which had reportedly suffered food shortages, broken plumbing and multiple suicide attempts during a deployment that began in November 2025.
Trump’s pledge on Aug 19 of unprecedented “economic warfare” on Iran comes as the president grows increasingly frustrated with the lack of movement on the military front.
In a post on his Truth Social, the US leader said he was announcing “the MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY! This will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale”.
The US has maintained punishing sanctions against Iran for decades, with Trump in his first term from 2017 to 2021 ratcheting them up as part of a “maximum pressure” strategy in which he tore up a nuclear deal negotiated by his predecessor Barack Obama.
Despite the heavy international sanctions, Iran found ways to continue exporting its oil, with China the biggest buyer. Tehran operates a so-called shadow fleet of tankers, all of which are under international sanctions.
In his threat to those helping Iran, Trump did not mention any country by name but listed activities that he said needed to stop immediately: “oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries, front companies”.
Source: AFP