CAIRO/WASHINGTON, Aug 24 — The US threatened Iran with what it called “the greatest financial offensive ever marshalled” as it prepared to roll out economic sanctions today targeting Iran’s trading partners.
Iran, in turn, vowed to shut down all oil exports from the Gulf “if the economic war continues”.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will hold a press conference at 1 pm local time on Monday (1 am Malaysian time on Tuesday) amid promises to unveil even more severe measures against a country that has endured near-continuous economic sanctions since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
“At dawn begins an economic D-Day — the single greatest financial offensive ever marshalled against an adversary,” Bessent wrote in an opinion piece published in the Financial Times yesterday.
The warring nations have not conducted military strikes against each other for weeks, but neither have they engaged in meaningful talks to end the six-month-old conflict.
Thousands of people have died, most of them in Iran and Lebanon, since the US and Israel began strikes on February 28, degrading much of Iran’s conventional military capacity and inflicting economic damage while killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
But Iran has preserved enough missile and drone capability to attack its Gulf neighbours and threaten oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, bringing shipping through the key waterway to a near standstill and putting pressure on global fuel prices. The exact state of Iran’s nuclear programme, which the US and Israel aim to eliminate, remains unknown.
Without detailing specific measures, Bessent signalled that the US would target “fearful nations” that practise “appeasement” by engaging with Iran’s economy and financial system.
“They would do well to consider the consequences of sustaining it,” he wrote in the Financial Times.
Iran has been bracing for the sanctions for days, issuing a series of strongly worded statements hinting at a major military response.
Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, yesterday suggested economic retaliation.
“If the economic war continues, not a single drop of oil will be exported, neither through the Strait of Hormuz nor from anywhere in the Persian Gulf,” Rezaei wrote in a social media post.
“Iran will regard any country’s participation in or support for America’s economic war against the Iranian people as an act of war.”
Bessent previously urged China to cooperate with the US, noting that China has historically received half of its oil imports from the Gulf region.
A spokesperson for China’s embassy in Washington responded with a statement saying that “sanctions and pressure do not help resolve the problem”, while calling for diplomacy.
Iran’s economy was already under pressure from international sanctions before the US and Israeli attacks destroyed parts of its infrastructure.
Though Tehran remains outwardly defiant, Iranian officials have warned that further economic punishment could increase hardship, reignite unrest and further erode the Islamic Republic’s legitimacy.
Iran entered the war with high inflation, a weakening currency, energy shortages, sanctions and deep structural weaknesses, and must now contend with damaged infrastructure, disrupted trade, lost production and the cost of rebuilding.
In the absence of official face-to-face talks between the US and Iran, last held in Switzerland in June, other nations, including Qatar, Pakistan and Turkey, have attempted to promote diplomacy.
Iran said Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, will visit Tehran today as part of efforts to restore peace and security in the region, but gave few details.
Pakistan has been mediating in the conflict, and a Pakistani government source said Munir would address recent developments, including the US threat of new sanctions.
US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks on Lebanon during the war have killed thousands and displaced millions. The US has reported 18 military personnel killed and more than 750 wounded.
