Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent rolled out a new round of economic sanctions against Iran on Monday, in what President Trump called an "economic D-Day." The Iranian currency, the Rial, dropped to a record low against the dollar in anticipation of the announcement.
According to NPR, the move represents a shift in U.S. strategy in the nearly six-month war between the U.S., Israel, and Iran. Rather than targeting individual businesses, the new sanctions appear focused on pressuring the governments and countries that host entities providing financial support to Tehran.
In an editorial for the Financial Times published overnight, Bessent wrote, "our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains the tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone." He appeared to reference countries that still trade with Iran, saying they should "consider the consequences of doing so." That includes China, which Bessent criticized last week for historically buying about 90 percent of Iran's oil.
Trump posted on his Truth Social network Monday morning, writing simply that "IRAN IS COMPLETELY COLLAPSING!!!," without offering any further context. He had previously described the new sanctions approach as a deliberate pivot from military strikes toward financial warfare.
Not everyone agrees the new sanctions will work. Alan Eyre, a former American diplomat who was part of the U.S. negotiating team over Iran's nuclear program until 2015, told NPR's Emily Feng that the U.S. has already targeted "the low-hanging fruit, the mid-hanging fruit, the high-hanging fruit, the tree," and that "there are no new sanctions that are effective."
Iran's leaders pushed back sharply. Iran's Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati addressed the Entrepreneurs' Assembly in Tehran on Monday, arguing that U.S. pressure will ultimately fail. "I was also the head of the Central Bank from 2018 to 2020. Our circumstances were almost exactly like this. They imposed maximum pressure, imposed secondary sanctions," Hemmati said, according to CBS News. He added, "I believe we must speak honestly with the people. We are meeting the people's basic needs. If our exports are cut off, we have made preparations for that as well."
Iran's new security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, said in an interview on state TV over the weekend that Iran would retaliate in a "seismic manner." Rezaei, a hardliner who formerly led Iran's Revolutionary Guards and now serves as a military adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, warned Gulf states that any countries partnering in the new economic restrictions would be considered an enemy of Iran and a target. He said Iran would respond by targeting oil tankers transiting the Persian Gulf on the Omani side of the Strait of Hormuz, warning that "not even a single drop of oil will leave the region."
Since the U.S. and Israel launched their war on Iran nearly six months ago, Iran has attacked U.S. bases in Jordan and Gulf countries including the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, with several attacks resulting in serious injuries and fatalities. Talks between Iran and Oman over future management of the Strait of Hormuz are set to continue Tuesday, with the notion of fees being imposed on commercial shipping a recurring theme in those negotiations.
Iran's president said Sunday that he believes the memorandum of understanding signed by the U.S. and Iran in June remains the best path to end the war. That agreement set a 60-day window for a wider peace deal, but the deadline expired without an agreement, and both countries have since declared the deal dead.
