U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that Washington would enter a new and unprecedented phase of economic pressure against the Iranian regime starting Monday, August 24, aimed at cutting off the regime’s financial and economic lifelines and intensifying Tehran’s isolation.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Sunday evening, Washington time, that a wide-ranging operation to increase economic pressure on the Iranian regime would begin early Monday.
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Bessent described this phase by referring to the military term “D-Day” and said the United States had entered the “endgame.” He described the action as the “largest financial assault” against an adversary, targeting the Iranian regime’s economic capabilities.
The U.S. Treasury secretary said the main objective of the pressure was to cut off vital economic channels that, he said, have enabled the survival of the Iranian regime. Bessent emphasized that Washington intends to block these lifelines so that the Iranian government ultimately faces complete isolation.
He also said U.S. President Donald Trump had created the conditions necessary to use the full capabilities of the government, legal authorities, and tools that many previously believed Washington would not be willing to use.
In another part of his remarks, Bessent claimed that the Iranian regime’s military capabilities had been severely damaged during Trump’s presidency. According to him, nearly 100% of the regime’s military factories had been targeted, and its nuclear program had also been “buried.”
The U.S. Treasury secretary also claimed that the Iranian regime had extracted concessions from other countries over the years by using security threats and the possibility of retaliation, and that this calculation had helped sustain the regime. According to him, the notion that an Iranian response was certain while U.S. action was negotiable had ended during Trump’s presidency.
Last week, Bessent had also announced that the U.S. government would impose much harsher economic sanctions against the Iranian regime starting Monday, sanctions that he said could lead to the “collapse of the Iranian regime.”
The U.S. Treasury secretary’s remarks indicate that economic pressure on the Iranian regime has entered a new phase and that Washington intends to use broader financial and sanctions tools to weaken the government’s economic resources.
