Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the Trump administration will unveil new sanctions against Iran next week that he describes as the most severe economic isolation measures ever imposed on any country.
Bessent made the announcement Thursday on Newsmax's "Rob Schmitt Tonight," framing the coming action as the next phase in an escalating financial campaign that has already targeted Iranian bank accounts, cryptocurrency wallets, shadow banking networks, and weapons procurement channels worldwide. The new measures, he said, will go further than anything Treasury has done before.
The Treasury secretary's remarks cap more than a year of intensifying economic and military pressure on Tehran, a campaign that began when President Trump formally restored his maximum-pressure policy in February 2025 and ordered Treasury to deny the Iranian regime and its terrorist proxies access to revenue. Since then, the administration has moved from military strikes under "Operation Epic Fury" earlier this year to a broader financial offensive Treasury has branded "Economic Fury."
"And watch this space for more announcements coming next week because we are going to apply measures like have never been seen in the history of the economic isolation of a country."
He did not specify whether the forthcoming package would consist of new sanctions designations, executive orders, or some other enforcement mechanism. But he made clear the administration intends to pair financial strangulation with the ongoing U.S. blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz.
Bessent described the combined strategy in blunt terms:
"It will be a combination of economic isolation like the world has never seen before and the continued blockade in the Strait of Hormuz that will keep anything from going in or out of the Iranian ports."
That blockade, its precise legal basis and formal status were not detailed in the interview, has been running alongside the financial campaign. Treasury escalated sanctions against Iranian shipping and financial networks in July after renewed Iranian attacks on international shipping in the strait.
Bessent traced the campaign's arc back to a direct presidential order roughly a year ago. Trump told him to apply maximum pressure to Tehran, and Treasury carried it out.
"A year ago... the president gave me the order to apply maximum pressure to the Iranian regime, and Treasury did."
Trump formalized the policy in February 2025, directing Treasury to impose sanctions and enforcement measures against anyone violating Iran-related restrictions. The directive also ordered a continuing campaign aimed at cutting off revenue to Iran and its proxy networks.
U.S. military operations against Iran began in February of this year under "Operation Epic Fury." Treasury then layered its own offensive on top, shifting the campaign's label to "Economic Fury" to signal the financial dimension.
Bessent framed the progression as deliberate escalation:
"We went from Epic Fury to Economic Fury. And at the president's orders, we have raised the level even again."
Treasury says the Economic Fury campaign has disrupted "tens of billions of dollars" in revenue that otherwise would have flowed to Tehran and its proxies. Bessent said the department has gone after bank accounts, crypto wallets, and assets around the world, cutting off payments to both the regime's leadership and the government itself. He also referenced efforts to dismantle shadow banking networks, oil-industry revenue streams, cryptocurrency holdings, weapons procurement channels, and sanctions-evasion operations.
The "tens of billions" figure comes from Treasury's own characterization. No independent verification of that number appeared in the interview, and Bessent did not name specific Iranian proxy organizations targeted by the campaign.
Several questions remain unanswered. Which countries or entities are cooperating with, or opposing, the blockade and sanctions effort? What legal authority underpins the Strait of Hormuz blockade? And what exactly will the "next week" announcement contain? Bessent offered no specifics beyond the promise that the measures would be historically unprecedented.
The administration's willingness to preview the announcement publicly, on cable television, suggests the White House wants Tehran to feel the pressure before the details even land. Bessent's language left little room for diplomatic ambiguity: the goal is total economic isolation, backed by a naval blockade that chokes Iran's ports.
For an administration that has staked its credibility on restoring deterrence, the next week's announcement will test whether unprecedented rhetoric produces unprecedented results, or whether Tehran finds another way around the squeeze.
