Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has issued a stark ultimatum to U.S. allies, declaring they must either align with Washington on imposing stringent sanctions against Iran or face penalties themselves. Bessent stated that the United States is prepared to utilize secondary sanctions to punish countries and corporations that continue to engage in business with Tehran.
"It is time for our allies and the rest of the world to make a decision, and we are going to squash the economy of this murderous regime," Bessent told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.” He added that the strategy of maximum economic pressure on Iran is scheduled to be detailed at a press conference on Monday.
Bessent asserted that the new sanctions will hinder Iran's capacity to project power through its proxies and will impede its ability to fund its military, leading to substantial inflation within the country, including food prices. He characterized the approach as a "one-two punch," combining a blockade with the most severe sanctions in history.
"We have the blockade, and we are going to have the toughest sanctions in history, and I will tell you this will work," Bessent said, drawing parallels to the effectiveness of sanctions in Venezuela and Cuba. "It worked in Venezuela once we put up the blockade. It is working in Cuba right now, and it is going to work in Iran — and we are going to collapse this regime."
The Treasury Secretary indicated that secondary sanctions would be employed against those continuing to conduct business with Iran, including transactions involving money transfers, oil purchases, or seaborne ship transfers. "If you insist on doing business with them — either transferring money, buying their oil, doing seaborne ship transfers — then the US Treasury and the US government will put its full might and force toward enforcing against you," he stated.