Bessent Says Iran to Have ‘No Oil on the Water’ as US Pressure Intensifies
US Treasury secretary says Washington’s campaign is cutting off Tehran’s oil revenues as new sanctions target Iran’s industrial and financial networks
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Iran will have “no oil on the water” this week and “no revenues” from oil exports, as the Trump administration intensifies its economic pressure campaign against Tehran.
Speaking in an extended interview with Axios published Saturday, Bessent said the development would mark the first time since Iran began producing oil that the country would have no crude oil at sea, according to Axios.
His remarks reflect the Trump administration’s assessment of the impact of its sanctions campaign on Iran’s oil exports.
The Treasury secretary’s comments come as Washington has expanded its sanctions campaign against Iran under what the administration calls “Operation Economic Outcast,” targeting the country’s oil revenues, financial networks and industrial sectors.
“Iran loaded ZERO crude oil onto tankers in September,” Bessent said in a post on X on Thursday, arguing that the administration’s pressure campaign was cutting off what he described as the Iranian regime’s most critical source of revenue.
Iran loaded ZERO crude oil onto tankers in September. The Trump Administration is cutting off the Iranian regime’s most critical source of revenue.
— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) October 1, 2026
Operation Economic Outcast is severing the economic lifelines that have allowed Tehran to finance its terrorist agenda. pic.twitter.com/p9VwpZYzCr
On Oct. 1, the US Treasury announced new sanctions targeting Iran’s automotive, rail, manufacturing and steel networks, including major Iranian automotive companies and Iran Railway.
The department said the measures were aimed at some of the remaining significant elements of Iran’s industrial infrastructure.
“Today’s action directly targets Iran’s enablers and lays the groundwork for the United States and our partners to drain the regime’s revenue once and for all,” Bessent said in the Treasury announcement.
The same day, the Treasury Department also announced sanctions targeting the A7 financial network, which Washington says has helped facilitate sanctions evasion and illicit financial activity connected to Iran.
The measures form part of a broader US effort to restrict Tehran’s access to international financial and commercial channels.
Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control lists recent determinations covering Iran’s aviation, digital asset, gold, shipping and technology sectors, alongside the newly targeted automotive and rail sectors.
Bessent’s comments also come as Washington faces the wider economic consequences of the conflict with Iran, particularly disruptions affecting global energy markets and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
The Treasury secretary has urged European countries to accelerate previously announced releases from strategic oil reserves, saying additional supplies are needed to help stabilize global energy markets.
For Tehran, the latest US measures threaten to further constrain access to foreign currency and international markets. Iranian officials, meanwhile, have continued to reject Washington’s pressure campaign and defend the country’s economic and strategic interests.
Bessent’s latest remarks indicate that the Trump administration intends to maintain pressure on Iran’s principal sources of revenue, particularly its oil exports, while extending sanctions to additional sectors of the Iranian economy.