Bessent to unveil “toughest” Iran sanctions as Rezaei threatens total oil halt
The explicit threat to halt all oil exports from the Persian Gulf, not just the Strait of Hormuz, raises the stakes well beyond the partial disruption markets have priced in over recent months, and traders should treat Rezaei's language as a genuine escalation risk rather than rhetorical posturing given his position atop Iran's security apparatus. Bessent's framing of the sanctions as forcing allies into a binary choice raises the prospect of secondary sanctions risk spreading to shipping, insurance and financial intermediaries well beyond Iran's direct trading partners, which could tighten global crude logistics even without a physical blockade escalation. Separate commentary referencing a plan to target the US bond market alongside energy adds an unusual dimension, suggesting Tehran may be signalling intent to weaponise financial market volatility rather than confining retaliation to oil infrastructure. Expect elevated volatility across crude benchmarks, tanker freight rates and regional equities heading into Monday's announcement, with downside skew if Bessent's measures are seen as maximalist enough to provoke immediate Iranian retaliation.
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Earlier:
- Going nuclear ... Iran security chief warns Tehran may seek nuclear weapons after US strikes
- Iran dismisses new US sanctions as desperate as Hormuz shipping standstill continues
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Washington's economic D-Day arrives Monday, and Tehran is answering with a threat to shut down all Gulf oil exports and treat cooperation as war.
Summary:
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will hold a press conference Monday at 2pm EDT to unveil what he calls the toughest sanctions in history against Iran, part of Trump's "economic D-Day."
- Bessent told CNBC the sanctions represent the greatest coordinated economic isolation campaign ever attempted, comparing the approach to blockades used against Venezuela and Cuba, and said the goal is to collapse Iran's regime.
- Washington will demand allies stop doing business with Iran and use its full might against any country that does not comply, according to Bessent.
- Iran's SNSC secretary Mohsen Rezaei warned that any country participating in the US sanctions would be treated as an act of war against Iran.
- Rezaei said that if the economic war continues, Iran would halt all oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Persian Gulf.
- Iran's IRGC dismissed the sanctions threat as an implicit admission of US defeat, while separate commentary attributed to Marandi warned of plans to target the energy market and the US bond market.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is set to unveil what the Trump administration is calling the toughest sanctions in history against Iran at a press conference Monday, marking the formal start of the "economic D-Day" campaign President Trump previewed last week. Writing in the Financial Times, Bessent said the moment had arrived for countries calculating that appeasing Tehran was the safer path to reconsider that judgment, framing the sanctions as a turning point rather than an incremental escalation.
Speaking to CNBC's Squawk on the Street ahead of the announcement, Bessent described the measures as the greatest campaign of coordinated economic isolation in history and said the approach that worked against Venezuela's blockade and continues to work against Cuba would now be applied to Iran. He said the United States intends to collapse the regime, and that Washington will press allies and the rest of the world to cut off economic ties with Tehran, using the country's full might against anyone who declines to comply. Trump reinforced the message in a Truth Social post, describing the campaign as economic warfare and isolation on an unprecedented scale and warning of severe financial penalties for any nation helping Iran evade sanctions.
Tehran's response has been immediate and pointed. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, warned that Iran would treat any country's participation in the US sanctions as an act of war, and said that if the economic pressure campaign continues, not a single drop of oil will be exported, either through the Strait of Hormuz or from anywhere else in the Persian Gulf. Separate commentary attributed to Marandi described the sanctions as the start of a new phase in what it called Washington's war of aggression, warning that Iran would use the moment to punish governments that cooperate with the US and cause panic in both the energy market and the US bond market.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has taken a more dismissive public tone, with a spokesperson quoted by state media calling the sanctions threat an implicit admission of the enemy's humiliating defeat in the military arena. The same spokesperson said Iran has ways to counter the adverse effects of what it termed the enemy's economic war and can readily establish economic relations with other countries regardless of US pressure.
The combination of an unprecedented US sanctions push and an explicit Iranian threat to halt all Gulf oil exports sets up Monday's announcement as a genuine flashpoint rather than a routine policy update. With Rezaei's position atop Iran's security council lending his warning institutional weight, and Washington framing the campaign as designed to force a binary choice on the rest of the world, the risk of rapid escalation on both the energy and financial fronts appears higher than at earlier stages of the standoff.
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.提供 MainLink：Investinglive RSS Breaking News Feed
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