Faced with a choice between a risky military option and an economic approach carrying a lower human cost, the administration of US President Donald Trump found itself at a decisive crossroads in dealing with Iran at the beginning of last spring.
The course it ultimately pursued, a suffocating naval blockade rather than a ground military adventure, was not a decision that emerged suddenly within Washington’s decision-making circles.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a new package of economic sanctions against Iran on Monday, saying Washington had imposed measures on 60 entities, individuals and vessels linked to Tehran across the nuclear energy, missile and oil sectors.
Washington Seeks to Cut Iran’s Economic Ties
Speaking at a press conference, Bessent said Trump was holding telephone calls with world leaders in an effort to sever their economic relations with Iran.
“Countries that do not join the US sanctions will share Iran’s isolation, and no one is beyond the reach of these sanctions, including China,” he said.
Bessent said the objective was to “cut every economic artery that supports this authoritarian regime until Tehran stands alone”.
He described the measures ordered by Trump as unprecedented and said they target some of Iran’s most important economic lifelines, including aviation, shipping, gold, technology and digital assets.
Bessent also warned that any party assisting Tehran with money laundering would be “permanently excluded from the US dollar system”.
“I expect you will see a major announcement regarding sanctions on a financial institution by the end of this week,” he said, without providing further details.
Trump recently claimed that Iran was facing inflation of 350 per cent and was no longer able to pay the salaries of its security forces.
Tehran Threatens Halt to Gulf Oil Exports
In response, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Mohsen Rezaei threatened to halt oil exports.
“If the economic war continues, not a single drop of oil will be exported, neither through the Strait of Hormuz nor from anywhere in the Gulf,” Rezaei said, according to Iranian media.
Iranian attacks and threats against vessels have led to the suspension of most shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, leaving navigation through the strategic waterway almost completely halted.
Before the conflict, around one-fifth of the world’s energy supplies passed through the strait.
Although some oil tankers have passed through the Strait of Hormuz in recent weeks, volumes remain extremely low.
On Sunday, Iran added 45 tankers to its blacklist, saying they had “failed to comply with the rules it seeks to impose on navigation through the Strait of Hormuz”.
