The United States is set to unveil a sweeping new economic campaign against Iran on Monday, August 24, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent calling it the “greatest financial offensive ever marshalled” against an adversary, while Tehran has threatened to halt all oil exports from the Persian Gulf if the economic pressure continues.
Bessent is scheduled to hold a press conference at 2 pm EDT (11.30 pm IST) to announce the measures, which are expected to target not only Iran but also countries and companies that continue trading with Tehran.
The move marks a major escalation in Washington’s economic pressure campaign after months of conflict between the US and Iran.
Bessent warns Iran’s economic lifelines will be cut
Bessent said the Trump administration was entering the “endgame” of its campaign against Tehran and would use its economic powers to isolate Iran.
In an opinion article published in the Financial Times, Bessent said the US would seek to “sever every economic lifeline” sustaining the Iranian government and warned countries and entities maintaining ties with Tehran of economic consequences.
The administration has indicated that the new measures could include secondary sanctions, potentially putting pressure on Iran’s trading partners to choose between maintaining business with Tehran and access to the US financial system. AP reported that China and India could be among the countries facing pressure because of their economic links with Iran.
Iran threatens to stop Gulf oil exports
Iran has responded by threatening to halt all oil exports from the Persian Gulf if Washington continues what Tehran describes as an economic war.
Mohsen Rezaei, Iran’s new National Security Council head, warned that countries supporting or participating in the US sanctions campaign could be considered to have committed an “act of war”.
The warning comes as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains severely disrupted. The waterway is one of the world’s most important oil transit routes, and continued disruption has raised concerns about further pressure on global energy supplies.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has rejected the threatened US sanctions as a sign of desperation and said they would fail to defeat Tehran. He has called for respectful dialogue instead.
It came a day after Rezaei’s most extensive public comments since being named to the post this month.
“If (Trump) wants to do something, we will retaliate in a seismic manner,” he had told the state broadcaster in an interview that aired late Saturday. He said Iran would target other oil-shipping routes from the Persian Gulf — alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz.
Rezaei, a former Revolutionary Guard commander and military adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, was part of senior appointments widely seen as hardening Tehran’s political and military stance.
Iranian president wants to move past neither war nor peace’
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian earlier Sunday said the memorandum of understanding signed in mid-June was the best way to move beyond a situation of “neither war nor peace,” adding that Tehran can’t attract investment nearly six months after the war began.
“There is not a single provision in this agreement that amounts to capitulation,” Pezeshkian said in a speech published by state-run IRNA. “The supreme leader sets the policies, and we will follow that path.”
The interim deal opened a 60-day period for talks aimed at ending the war and reaching an accord on Iran’s nuclear program. That period ended last week with no signs of compromise or extension.
No attacks confirmed on the strait, but new restrictions
There were no confirmed attacks in the Strait of Hormuz over the past 48 hours, a multinational coalition overseen by the US Navy said Sunday, with shipping traffic still at reduced levels. The US military said its blockade of Iranian ports had redirected 70 commercial ships and disabled three as of Sunday.
Iran’s recently created Persian Gulf Strait Authority, sanctioned by the US, published a list of dozens of ships it said had violated arrangements for transiting the strait and would face future restrictions like fines or seizures. The strait had been considered an international waterway before the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.
Iran and Oman, on the strait’s other side, are now discussing management of it, which likely will include ships paying fees.
Oil markets watch US-Iran escalation
The prospect of tougher sanctions and further disruption around the Strait of Hormuz has kept oil markets on edge.
Brent crude fell by more than USD 1 a barrel on Monday as investors took profits ahead of Washington’s announcement. Brent was trading around USD 93.17 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude stood at about USD 85.86.
The Strait of Hormuz is particularly significant because roughly a fifth of the world’s oil passes through the waterway under normal circumstances. Any further restrictions could therefore have consequences well beyond Iran and the Gulf region.
The latest escalation comes as diplomatic efforts to end the US-Iran conflict remain stalled, with Pakistan and other countries attempting to mediate between the two sides. Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir is expected to visit Tehran as part of efforts to push for a diplomatic solution.
Pakistan’s army chief will visit Tehran
Pakistani Field Marshal Asim Munir will lead a delegation to Tehran on Monday, Iranian state television reported, citing Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei.
Two regional officials said the visit was part of Islamabad’s efforts to de-escalate tensions between the United States and Iran and urge them to return to the negotiating table. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the matter publicly.
Iran executes man arrested during January protests
The Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported the latest execution connected to nationwide protests early this year, saying Majid Adineh was arrested January 9 in Mohammadshahr, west of Tehran.
The judiciary said forensic examinations indicated the handgun found on him had been fired on January 8-9.
Mizan said Adineh had joined the unrest following calls by groups opposed to Iran’s government and alleged that he had received training from groups outside the country. He was convicted under Iran’s law imposing harsher penalties for espionage and cooperation with hostile states.
Israeli settler arrested in beating of Palestinian amputee
Police arrested a 16-year-old boy from the Israeli settlement of Avigayil in the beating of a 61-year-old Palestinian, Saeed Muhammad Ibrahim Rabah, outside his home in the occupied West Bank, a year after he lost a leg after being shot by a settler.
Rabah told The Associated Press that the violence at his home in Khirbet al-Rakeez on Saturday was an effort to make families leave, but “we will remain, no matter what happens.”
Separately, the West Bank Health Ministry said a 14-year-old in the Askar refugee camp in Nablus was shot dead by Israeli forces, who did not immediately comment. The uncle of Islam Maher Ajouri, Nehad Ajouri, called the shooting indiscriminate.
And Israel’s military said it detained a suspect in a stabbing attack that wounded a 24-year-old Israeli man in the area of al-Auja in the West Bank. Israel’s emergency services said the man was in moderate condition.
Airstrike in Gaza kills a four-year-old child
Four-year-old Mohammed Taha died after an Israeli airstrike hit a central Gaza house on Sunday and wounded at least five others, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the casualties.
Israel’s military later said it struck and killed a Hamas commander in central Gaza. The hospital confirmed that the man named Ismail Abu Ful was killed.
An Israeli strike in southern Gaza wounded at least seven people, including three children, according to health officials at Nasser Hospital. The military did not immediately comment.
And Defence Minister Israel Katz in a statement said he instructed the military to “act immediately and forcefully” to prevent launches of balloons, kites or drones from Gaza toward nearby Israeli communities.
Before the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas-led militants on Israel — when 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage — burning kites and balloons were sent from Gaza into southern Israel, causing fires and other damage.
Hamas, in a statement Sunday, accused Israel of “using children’s toys as a pretext” for attacks and further displacement of Gaza residents.
