US Treasury secretary says new economic measures will ‘collapse’ Iran

Scott Bessent has not said if countries such as China could be targeted in an effort to economically isolate Tehran.United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said that a new series of economic measures will “collapse” the Iranian government, calling on countries to join the effort.Bessent told the news service CNBC on Thursday that the US would apply the “toughest sanctions in history” on Iran, its adversary in a nearly six-month-long war.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3How China and Russia could hobble Trump’s plans to isolate Iranlist 2 of 3‘Tremendous costs’: Can Trump stop other countries from trading with Iran?list 3 of 3Are ships passing Hormuz more willing to defy Iran or US? What data showsend of list“It is a one-two punch. We have the blockade [on Iran], and we are going to have the toughest sanctions in history,” Bessent said. “It is going to work in Iran, and we are going to collapse this regime.”He then offered a warning to the members of the international community that they too could face economic penalties if they continue to trade with Iran.“We’re going to them and saying: You’re either with us or against us,” Bessent said. “If you insist on doing business with them — either transferring money, buying oil, doing seaborne ship transport — then the US Treasury and the US government, they will put its full might and force towards enforcing against you.”He billed the US’s strategy as the “greatest coordinated economic isolation in the history of the world”.“It is time for our allies and the rest of the world to make a decision,” Bessent added.The secretary’s comments follow an announcement from US President Donald Trump a day earlier, promising “the most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country” would be unleashed on Iran.He also threatened “tremendous consequences” for any country that continues to engage economically with Iran.But what form such penalties could take – and whether they would be applied to powerful countries like China – remains to be seen.