Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Monday that the United States will impose punishing sanctions on countries, companies and financial institutions that continue doing business with Iran.
Bessent’s announcement formally puts President Donald Trump’s threatened “economic D-Day” into motion as his administration searches for a way to pressure Tehran without launching another round of military strikes.
“Let there be no ambiguity as to the position of the United States,” Bessent said at a news conference. “An economic engagement of any kind with this murderous regime will expose those responsible to the full reach of American power.”
“IRAN IS COMPLETELY COLLAPSING!!!” he wrote on Truth Social at 8.41 a.m. on Monday.
The expanded “secondary” sanctions are designed to isolate Iran by threatening consequences not only against Tehran but also against foreign governments, banks and businesses that provide the country with an economic lifeline.
U.S. officials say the economic campaign is expected to become the administration’s primary weapon against Iran until at least after the midterm elections, when another military campaign could again be considered.
The move comes after Trump spent days insisting the situation with Iran was moving in a positive direction, only for negotiations once described as close to a breakthrough to collapse.
Trump previewed the sanctions campaign last week with a sweeping threat of economic punishment, declaring “ECONOMIC D-DAY” against Tehran and warning that countries helping Iran would pay a heavy price.
The dramatic announcement came as Trump’s effort to force Iran into ending the war appeared to be losing momentum. With negotiations stalled and the conflict continuing to carry economic pain and human costs, Trump declared he was launching the “MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY.”
But Bessent’s announcement also highlights the administration’s challenge. The United States already has extensive secondary sanctions targeting countries and businesses that trade with Iran, particularly those involved in its oil industry. Washington, including under the current Trump administration, has enforced them only partially.
For the new campaign to inflict significantly more damage, the administration will likely need cooperation from Western allies while also confronting major countries that continue trading with Iran, including China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Qatar and Turkey.
Trump acknowledged the need for international cooperation when he first announced the plan.
“This will be an ECONOMIC D-DAY, and we need all of our Allies to stand with the United States of America to isolate, and defeat, the Iran threat,” he wrote.
Iran has also spent years under international sanctions without fundamentally changing its regional activities or its position on its nuclear program, raising questions about whether an even more aggressive economic campaign can force Tehran to make concessions where previous sanctions failed.
Still, Iran’s economy is now facing substantially greater pressure because of the war.
The Iranian rial plunged to a new low Monday, falling to 2 million rials to one U.S. dollar. At the same time, the U.S. naval blockade has prevented Iran from exporting most of its oil, depriving the government of one of its most important sources of revenue.
U.S. officials say Tehran has struggled to establish alternative land or sea transportation routes, further weakening its ability to provide basic goods and services. Inflation has sent food prices soaring, while Trump administration officials say the government is struggling to pay some public workers, including members of the military and police.
“Their system is designed to insulate the elites, but even their purchasing power is plummeting, and some of them — for the first time in their lives — have faced uncertainty about whether their paychecks will arrive on time,” one U.S. official said.
Iranian leaders have publicly tried to minimize the threat posed by Washington’s new economic campaign and have threatened retaliation against countries that cooperate with the sanctions.
Behind those warnings, however, senior Iranian officials have openly acknowledged the severity of the country’s economic crisis.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said the government does not deny the shortages gripping the country and argued that Iran should end the war now while it remains in a position of strength.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of Iran’s parliament and the country’s chief negotiator, also delivered a stark warning during a meeting with Iranian and Iraqi businessmen in Baghdad last week.
“No matter how much military power we have,” Ghalibaf said, “if people are hungry and we don’t have financial circulation, economic growth and domestic production, we will not endure.”
Trump’s sanctions push follows a turbulent stretch of diplomacy in which his administration repeatedly suggested an agreement with Iran was near.
Earlier this month, Trump said an agreement was “imminent.” But that optimism quickly evaporated.
Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner later told Fox News that Iranian officials were looking to “finish the deal.” Trump contradicted him the following day, saying there were no talks underway, reports said.
Trump nevertheless continued to insist that the situation with Iran was “so good” even as his administration reportedly instructed envoys to halt conversations with Tehran.
When he unveiled the “economic D-Day” plan, Trump blamed Iran for failing to accept what he characterized as an extraordinary opportunity to negotiate an end to the war.
“No one has given the Islamic Republic of Iran a greater opportunity to make a Deal than me. TRAGICALLY, for them, they have failed to take it. Therefore, today, I am announcing the MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY! This will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale,” Trump declared on Truth Social.
Trump claimed Iran had lost its navy, destroyed its air force and military factories, and rendered its currency “worthless.”
He then broadened the threat beyond Iran.
“ANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences,” Trump wrote. “Oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries, front companies — It all needs to stop NOW. You know who you are.”
The economic pressure comes as the conflict continues to disrupt energy markets.
Oil prices remain elevated, while the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz has contributed to a fuel supply crisis. Iran’s Foreign Ministry has blamed the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports for shortages of goods and rising prices.
The United Arab Emirates, meanwhile, announced it was suspending all trade with Tehran after two ballistic missiles targeted the UAE. Iran denied launching the missiles. The UAE is Iran’s second-largest commercial partner, making the decision another potentially significant blow to Tehran.
The human cost of the conflict also continues to mount. Eighteen U.S. service members have died, and 757 have been wounded since fighting began, according to Defense Department data cited by CNN.
Trump has presented the economic campaign as the next step needed to break Iran without immediately returning to a wider military offensive.
“These maniacs are on the ropes, and these HISTORIC MEASURES will cripple them and their ability to project terror worldwide,” Trump wrote. “IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON.”
The announcement quickly drew ridicule online, with critics portraying the threat as evidence that Trump was becoming increasingly desperate as his strategy failed to produce the deal he had promised.
“One padded cell coming up,” one observer joked on Threads.
Another critic mocked the president’s increasingly forceful rhetoric, writing:
“You guys are so cooked !! He’s so desperate the next tweet will be in ALL CAPS basically screaming and begging at the same time ! For a war that America won 39x this is getting confusing.”
Others argued that Trump had weakened his own position by alienating countries whose cooperation he now needs.
“This is what happens when you alienate your allies and stumble into a war you weren’t prepared to fight. Zero leverage. Zero alternatives. Total strategic defeat.”
Another post simply declared, “The world is laughing at him,” alongside a clown emoji.
And one critic summed up the growing perception that Trump’s threats may no longer carry the same weight:
“Bully got stuffed in a locker. Now nobody’s afraid of him, and the big kids are taking over. Most embarrassing time in America, maybe ever.”
