US Warns Iran of Unprecedented Sanctions as Hormuz Standoff Deepens

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has warned that Washington is preparing economic measures against Iran on a scale he said the world has never seen, signaling a sharper shift toward financial warfare as the Trump administration struggles to force Tehran into concessions.

"Watch this space for more announcements coming next week," Bessent said in an interview with Newsmax on Thursday, according to Reuters. He said the United States would apply measures "like have never been seen in the history of economic isolation on a country."

Bessent described the strategy as a combination of unprecedented economic isolation and a continued US blockade of Iranian ports, saying the measures would be designed to constrain what enters and leaves the country.

The warning came as senior US officials increasingly frame the conflict around the economic consequences of the continuing closure of the Strait of Hormuz, while questions grow over the effectiveness, cost and sustainability of the military campaign.

Economic pressure takes center stage

The latest threats represent a significant evolution in Washington's approach.

As The Associated Press, in reporting by Josh Boak and Fatima Hussein, noted earlier this week, President Donald Trump has increasingly turned back toward sanctions after months of military strikes failed to produce the rapid political outcome he had sought.

The administration has described its financial campaign as "Operation Economic Fury," with Treasury targeting Iran's energy revenues and international financial connections.

Bessent has characterized the campaign as the financial equivalent of military action. The objective is to increase pressure on Tehran while exploiting vulnerabilities created by the war and the disruption of Iran's oil exports.

Trump has argued that Iran's economy is approaching collapse.

"They’re broke," Trump said, according to AP, while pointing to severe inflation and financial pressures.

Iranian officials, however, have rejected the argument that greater sanctions will force capitulation.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei, quoted by AP, said Washington repeatedly returns to sanctions when diplomacy fails, arguing that increasing economic pressure would not resolve the underlying conflict.

The standoff therefore reflects a familiar cycle in US-Iran relations: Washington seeks to use economic pressure to force strategic concessions, while Tehran portrays sanctions as evidence that the United States is unwilling to negotiate on equal terms.

Hormuz becomes the economic battlefield

The economic pressure campaign is closely tied to the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of global oil and gas shipments passed before the war.

The waterway has become one of Iran's most important sources of leverage.

In separate reporting Thursday, AFP said Bessent's strategy combines financial isolation with continued blockade of Iranian ports. The agency quoted him as saying the blockade would prevent goods from entering or leaving Iranian ports.

At the same time, AFP reported that Vice President JD Vance had acknowledged a shift in Washington's immediate priorities.

Vance said the administration's first priority was now bringing down oil and gasoline prices for Americans, with preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon taking second place.

"I know that oil is down today and it's way down from the highs in the early days of the conflict," Vance said, adding that keeping oil and gasoline affordable was "goal number one."

The comments underscore how the economic consequences of the war are increasingly shaping US strategy.

The longer the Strait remains disrupted, the greater the pressure on consumers and businesses, particularly in the United States, where higher fuel prices have become politically sensitive ahead of November's congressional elections.

Washington's military options face pressure

The growing emphasis on sanctions is also taking place alongside concerns about the strain on US military capabilities.

AP reported Friday that the USS George Washington has begun moving toward the Middle East as the long-deployed USS Abraham Lincoln faces scrutiny over its exceptionally extended deployment.

The Lincoln has spent more than 260 days at sea, with questions raised about supply problems, morale and sailors' mental health.

The US Navy said combat operations and disrupted supply hubs had complicated support for the carrier, while US Central Command defended the ship's crew as resilient despite the prolonged deployment.

The incoming carrier is expected to reinforce US naval capabilities in the region, but the broader movement also highlights the demands created by the continuing confrontation.

The Pentagon has previously faced questions over dwindling stocks of expensive air-defense and precision weapons following months of fighting.

That pressure has strengthened the appeal of economic tools, which can be deployed without immediately expanding the military campaign.

Sanctions take time

Economic pressure, however, carries a limitation that military planners and sanctions experts have repeatedly emphasized: it often works slowly.

AP cited Richard Nephew, who helped direct Iran sanctions policy during the Obama administration, as warning that sanctions cannot necessarily produce the immediate effects of a blockade.

He also argued that the Trump administration's shifting objectives have weakened the strategic impact of its pressure campaign.

Former US national security official Juan Zarate, also cited by AP, said sanctions can provide substantial leverage, including through threats against foreign companies and governments doing business with Iran, but emphasized that their effects take time.

That creates a difficult calculation for Washington.

The administration wants Tehran to yield quickly, while the most powerful economic instruments often require months or longer to significantly alter a government's strategic behavior.

Tehran retains leverage

Iran, meanwhile, has sought to turn the Strait of Hormuz into a bargaining tool.

AFP reported that Tehran has attached extensive conditions to reopening the waterway, including an end to the war, lifting the US blockade, sanctions relief, the release of frozen assets and compensation for wartime damage.

Those demands go substantially beyond simply restoring commercial shipping.

The dispute has therefore transformed Hormuz from a maritime-security issue into the central bargaining arena of the conflict.

For Washington, reopening the waterway is becoming increasingly important because of its effects on global energy prices. For Tehran, maintaining leverage over the strait offers a means of offsetting the pressure created by sanctions and the blockade.

A strategy under pressure

Bessent's warning suggests that the United States is preparing to intensify that economic confrontation rather than immediately return to a large-scale bombing campaign.

The administration's strategy now combines sanctions, restrictions on oil exports and a naval blockade, while keeping military options available.

Trump has repeatedly indicated that he prefers a negotiated outcome, but the conditions demanded by Tehran and Washington remain far apart.

The White House must also balance foreign-policy objectives against domestic economic pressures. Higher energy prices risk political damage at home, while an extended military deployment places additional demands on US forces.

Iran faces its own vulnerabilities. AP reported that its economy has been severely damaged by the war, with shrinking oil exports and very high inflation. Yet the government has so far shown no indication that it is prepared to accept Washington's terms.

The result is a growing economic contest alongside the military confrontation.

For Washington, the immediate question is whether unprecedented financial pressure can accomplish what months of military force have not.

For Tehran, the calculation is whether control of Hormuz, combined with its ability to absorb economic pain, can force the United States to reduce its demands.

Bessent's latest warning suggests that the Trump administration intends to test that calculation aggressively, with measures it says will be unlike any previous campaign of economic isolation.