US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has warned that Washington will impose the “toughest sanctions in history” on Iran as part of an unprecedented campaign aimed at putting the country’s economy under severe pressure and forcing a change in Tehran’s policies. In an interview with CNBC, Bessent urged US allies and other countries, including China, to support Washington’s efforts to “squash” the Iranian economy, reports BBC.
“We are going to collapse this regime. It is time for our allies and the rest of the world to make a decision,” Bessent said, adding, “You are either with us or against us,” reports BBC. His comments came after US President Donald Trump warned that countries providing “any type of lifeline” to Iran would face “tremendous economic consequences”.
Bessent did not disclose details of the new measures, but said the planned pressure campaign would be aimed at avoiding the need for a “large-scale kinetic restart” of the conflict. He described the proposed sanctions as part of “the greatest coordinated economic isolation in the history of the world”.
The Treasury Secretary said countries continuing to do business with Iran, including transferring money or purchasing Iranian oil, would face the full force of the US government. Further details of the measures are expected to be announced at a press conference on August 24.
The planned campaign comes despite Iran already facing decades of international sanctions. According to the BBC, the Iranian economy has been under sustained pressure, with inflation and rising living costs triggering widespread protests earlier this year. Official figures showed that the prices of basic necessities rose by an average of about 60% in the year to February 2026, while food prices doubled. However, it remains uncertain whether another round of sweeping sanctions will achieve Washington’s stated objective of weakening or collapsing the Iranian government.
Iran has faced successive rounds of US and international sanctions since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, yet the government has survived and has repeatedly found ways to maintain trade with foreign partners. Several Iranians interviewed by the BBC expressed doubts that additional sanctions would threaten the regime’s survival, arguing that the country has become accustomed to economic restrictions and is likely to find alternative trading channels.
The latest US threat follows months of military confrontation between Washington, Israel and Iran, followed by attempts to negotiate a lasting settlement. The conflict disrupted regional trade and severely affected traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial global energy route through which a significant share of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas traditionally passes.
China has criticised Washington’s latest push for economic pressure on Tehran, warning that additional sanctions will not resolve the underlying disputes.
The confrontation has also intensified the dispute over the Strait of Hormuz. Trump has claimed that the US military controls traffic through the waterway and suggested that Washington could seek greater control over it. Iran, however, has insisted that vessels must obtain Tehran’s approval before transiting the strait.
The competing claims have raised questions over who actually controls shipping through the strategic waterway, particularly as the US maintains a naval blockade targeting Iran-linked vessels.
The developments come amid heightened tensions involving Oman, which lies across the Strait of Hormuz from Iran. Trump has also issued threats against Oman as Washington seeks to discourage any arrangement between Muscat and Tehran over the management of the waterway. With the US now preparing what Bessent described as an unprecedented economic isolation campaign, the next phase of the Iran crisis is likely to be fought as much through sanctions, trade and energy flows as through military pressure.
