Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will hold a press conference Monday to announce sanctions against Iran that he described to CNBC as the greatest campaign of "coordinated economic isolation in the history of the world."
"At dawn begins an economic D-Day — the single greatest financial offensive ever marshalled against an adversary," Bessent wrote in an opinion piece in The Financial Times on Sunday. He also told CNBC on Thursday that the U.S. will "collapse" the Islamic Republic with the "toughest sanctions in history."
The Trump administration is demanding that U.S. allies and the rest of the world stop doing business with Iran, Bessent said, adding that the U.S. will use its "full might" against anyone who does not comply. "We are going to them and saying you are either with us or against us," Bessent told CNBC. "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."
The announcement follows remarks last week by President Donald Trump, who said the U.S. would target Iran with the "most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country." Trump also threatened severe financial penalties against any nation that helps Iran evade sanctions, writing on Truth Social that "this will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale."
