Top U.S. financial official Scott Bessent has launched a sharp call for American allies to back Washington’s aggressive new campaign to cripple Iran’s economy, framing the sweeping new sanctions package as a tool to avoid a full-scale resumption of open conflict in the Middle East.
In an interview with CNBC, Treasury Secretary Bessent made clear the ultimate goal of the pressure campaign is to bring down Iran’s ruling government, demanding global powers pick a side in the standoff. “We are going to collapse this regime. It is time for our allies and the rest of the world to make a decision,” he stated bluntly, adding “You are either with us or against us.”
Bessent’s hardline remarks come just days after U.S. President Donald Trump issued a stark warning: any nation that continues to provide economic support to Iran’s Islamic Republic will face severe economic retaliation from Washington. While the Treasury chief declined to share specific details of the new measures the Trump administration is finalizing, he emphasized that the intensified economic pressure campaign will sharply reduce the likelihood of returning to large-scale active combat between U.S.-led forces and Iran.
The current crisis traces back to February 2026, when the U.S. and Israel launched open military strikes on Iran, claiming the action was necessary to stop Tehran from advancing its nuclear program – a claim Iranian officials have repeatedly and categorically denied. Iran responded immediately with retaliatory strikes on Israeli territory, dozens of U.S. military bases across the Middle East, and targeted attacks on U.S. Gulf Arab allies. It also effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, the critical global energy chokepoint that carries roughly 20 percent of the world’s daily oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, triggering extreme volatility in global commodity markets that rippled across economies worldwide.
Two ceasefire agreements were reached between Washington and Tehran – one in April and a second in June – both designed to create space for negotiations to end the conflict permanently. But both truces have been repeatedly violated, and diplomatic talks have ground to a standstill. Rather than greenlighting a return to open war, the Trump administration is now moving forward with what the president calls the “most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country.”
Bessent framed the upcoming penalties as the cornerstone of what he described as “the greatest co-ordinated economic isolation in the history of the world.” For any third-party nation or entity that chooses to continue commercial activity with Iran – whether that means processing financial transactions, purchasing Iranian crude oil, or other forms of trade – the secretary made clear the full weight of U.S. regulatory power will be brought to bear. “If you insist on doing business with them… then the US Treasury and the US government will put [their] full might and force towards enforcing against you,” he said. Full details of the new sanctions package will be revealed at a formal press conference scheduled for August 24, Bessent confirmed.
Iran’s economy has already been battered by decades of U.S. and international sanctions, leaving the country’s financial system in tatters and driving catastrophic inflation for ordinary citizens. In early 2026, weeks of widespread anti-government protests erupted across Iran, sparked by skyrocketing living costs and hyperinflation, with many demonstrators blaming the ruling regime for their economic hardship. Official data shows that in the 12 months leading up to February 2026, prices for basic consumer goods rose an average of 60 percent, while food prices alone doubled across the country. At the height of those protests, Trump released a public message encouraging demonstrators, telling them “help is on the way” and urging them to continue their demonstrations against the regime.
The February military offensive and subsequent U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports followed those protests, with the Trump administration initially betting that a swift military campaign would force the regime’s collapse or unconditional surrender. When that outcome failed to materialize, Washington rolled out a new round of sanctions in April targeting foreign banks and commercial firms that continued to do business with Tehran. That campaign, dubbed Operation Economic Fury, was designed to cut off Tehran’s revenue streams to weaken its military capabilities, and included the ongoing naval blockade to block all Iranian exports.
The June ceasefire memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran included a key provision that would see the U.S. lift all existing sanctions on Iran according to a mutually agreed timeline, a commitment that now appears to be abandoned as Washington moves forward with new penalties.
Sanctions are nothing new for Iran: the first major round of U.S. sanctions was imposed shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, during the U.S. embassy hostage crisis. Decades of additional penalties have been added in the years since, but the Iranian regime has never collapsed. Instead, it has consistently managed to suppress internal dissent, including the harsh crackdown on early 2026’s anti-government protests.
Many ordinary Iranians expressed confidence that the country can adapt to and overcome the new round of U.S. pressure, drawing on decades of experience navigating sanctions. A resident of Khuzestan, a central Iranian province, told the BBC that while new sanctions will likely cause short-term hardship, that does not mean Iran cannot weather the storm. “There may be an impact at first, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Iran won’t be able to overcome the crisis,” he said.
Other Iranians echoed that sentiment, doubting the new penalties will achieve the U.S. goal of collapsing the regime. “Not everything changes because of statements made by President Trump,” one woman told Middle East Lifeline. “Iran has been living under sanctions for years, and people have become accustomed to this situation. I’m sure Iran will find other ways to continue trading. Of course, there will be some impact and the economy may weaken, but that doesn’t mean it will collapse.”