Bessent says Iran is in ‘economic death throes’ as U.S. allies back effort to ‘asphyxiate’ IRGC

Scott Bessent says Iran is nearing economic collapse, and he says the United States will have help trying to push it there.

Speaking after the G20 meeting, the U.S. Treasury secretary said many American allies had told him they would do whatever necessary to support Operation Economic Outcast, a campaign aimed at completely isolating Iran’s economy. He did not specify what form that support would take.

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The operation has been met with a great show of support.

Bessent said Iran was in “economic death throes” and would soon be ready to make a deal with the United States. He presented the operation as a pressure campaign designed to cut off Iran’s economic options.

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What I can tell you is many of our allies came forward and said we will do whatever is necessary.

His discussions with Chinese officials, he said, had been productive. Washington and Beijing agree more than they disagree on Iran, Bessent said, particularly on preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. He described the talks as intentionally quiet.

The two sides both want free trade to resume in the Strait of Hormuz, but Bessent said they had not reached a specific agreement. He also said the operation did not depend on Chinese cooperation. The United States, he warned, would block Iran from converting Chinese yuan into U.S. dollars. “When that money cannot be converted to dollars, then the Iranian regime will starve,” he said.

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When that money cannot be converted to dollars, then the Iranian regime will starve.