US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has threatened Iran with "the single greatest financial offensive ever", claiming that the US-Israel war with Iran was "entering its endgame". He made the remarks in an opinion piece for the Financial Times, as reported by infohub.kz.
Bessent said the US would sever all economic ties with the country in "an economic D-Day" and that any nation partnering with Iran financially would also be isolated. This threat follows several U-turns and extended deadlines from US President Donald Trump's administration on previous threats.
Iran dismissed Bessent's comments and said it would shut down all oil exports from the region "if the war continues", according to Reuters. The Iranian regime has also issued a new warning to shipping not to pass through the Strait of Hormuz without its permission.
One fifth of the world's oil and gas usually passes through the strait, but the flow has been effectively blocked by Iran since the conflict began at the end of February. Bessent did not detail what the economic pressure would involve, but he is expected to do so in a press conference in the US at 13:00 local time (18:00 BST) on Monday.
"The world should understand that our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains the tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone," he wrote.
The US has made several threats to Iran over the course of the war, including Trump saying in April that "a whole civilisation will die tonight" unless Iran agreed a deal to end the war and unblock the Strait of Hormuz. However, the US eventually climbed down from that position after mediator Pakistan intervened and called for more diplomacy.
Iran already faces tough economic sanctions from the US. In 2015, former US president Barack Obama and several allies agreed a deal with Iran that lifted many sanctions in return for limits on its nuclear programme. But Trump pulled out of that deal in 2018, calling it "defective at its core", and reimposed all US sanctions on Iran.
During Joe Biden's presidency, attempts to reinstate the Obama-era deal failed. In April this year, the Trump administration launched a wave of sanctions on foreign banks and firms doing business with Tehran after it became clear its military operations had not caused Iran's regime to surrender.