Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will lay out a new round of sanctions on Iran at a news conference Monday, the next step in what President Donald Trump has called an economic D-Day against Tehran as the war nears its sixth month.
The news conference is scheduled for 2 p.m. Eastern time, CNN reported. The administration has signaled that the measures will target what is left of Iran's revenue.
Trump announced the campaign on social media Wednesday, warning that any country doing business with Iran would face severe economic consequences, The Times of Israel reported. He named no country and gave no detail on the penalties.
Bessent offered a partial preview in a CNBC interview Thursday, threatening secondary sanctions against nations and companies that trade with Iran, The Associated Press reported. He did not identify targets. China and India remain the largest buyers of Iranian oil. The effort follows an earlier phase, called Operation Economic Fury, that focused on entities and individuals buying Iranian oil or handling its banking.
Bessent described the plan as "the greatest coordinated economic isolation in the history of the world," Fox News reported.
Tehran dismissed the campaign. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei called Trump's threat "a recipe for an abysmal return to full-scale classic colonialism," CNN reported. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called Friday for an immediate end to the war, according to Fox News.
The Strait of Hormuz remains heavily restricted. Reopening it to oil and gas tankers is one of Washington's stated aims, along with ending Iran's nuclear program. Iran has been granting selective passage and has allowed a number of Iraqi tankers through the waterway, CNN reported.
The pressure campaign comes as the administration works through diminishing stockpiles of key weapons. It also faces growing domestic scrutiny over what the war has cost American consumers, with elections approaching in November, The Associated Press reported. Iran has absorbed nearly five decades of American sanctions, and analysts are divided over whether another round will move its leadership.
Trump addressed inflation and gasoline prices Friday night at a rally for Sen. Darline Graham, Fox News reported.