Washington DC [US], August 24 (ANI): US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday (local time) said that the Trump administration is entering the "endgame" in its campaign against Iran, announcing what he called an "economic D-Day" aimed at severing Iran's economic lifelines.
In a post on X, Bessent said, "President Trump has dismantled Iran's military capabilities, destroyed nearly 100 percent of its military factories, and buried its nuclear program."
President Trump has dismantled Iran’s military capabilities, destroyed nearly 100 percent of its military factories, and buried its nuclear program.
We are now entering the endgame. At dawn begins an economic D-Day — the single greatest financial offensive ever marshaled against…
"We are now entering the endgame. At dawn begins an economic D-Day -- the single greatest financial offensive ever marshaled against an adversary," he said.
Bessent accused Iran of using security guarantees as a form of "extortion" and said Tehran had relied on the expectation that Iranian retaliation was certain while US enforcement could be negotiated.
"The Islamic Republic has subsisted by dressing extortion as security guarantees. It has drawn strength from a calculus that regards Iranian retaliation as certain and American enforcement as negotiable," Bessent said.
"Under President Trump, that era is over. And those who fear the danger of defying Tehran ought not to discount the cost of testing Washington," he added.
Bessent said Trump had created the conditions for the US government to deploy its full range of authorities against Iran.
"The President has created the conditions to leverage every agency, every authority and action many assumed we would never summon," he said.
"Our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains the tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone," Bessent added.
Meanwhile, Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei on Monday warned that Tehran could halt all oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz and elsewhere in the Persian Gulf if the United States' "economic war" against Iran continues.
Rezaei, in a post on X, also warned that Iran would consider any country supporting or participating in the US economic campaign against Tehran to be an "act of war."
"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 Persian Gulf. Iran will regard any country's participation in or support for America's economic war against the Iranian people as an act of war," Rezaei said.
The warning comes amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington over US plans for tougher economic measures against Iran.
Earlier on Sunday, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf ridiculed the United States following the fresh economic sanctions threat by President Donald Trump, using satirical commentary to argue that heavy-handed economic restrictions ultimately backfire.
In a post on X, Ghalibaf commented on the limitations of trying to manage deep-seated financial strain through short-term state interventions and shared a sarcastic take on how economic pressures play out.
"Importing frozen meat to fix meat prices. Okay, that might work. What's the plan for bonds, import frozen yields? Frozen homebuyers for housing? Frozen paychecks for wages? A frozen foreign policy delivers a frozen economy. The only thing still moving? The Iran boomerang," he said.
Meanwhile, according to Al Jazeera, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei also slammed US' sanctions threat and said that war and sanctions are "not unfamiliar" to Iran.
He noted that the Islamic Republic has been under sanctions for 20 years.
Iran's rebuttal came after Trump on Wednesday announced what he called an "Economic D-Day" campaign against Iran, describing it as the "most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country."
Trump said the campaign would amount to "Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale" and called on US allies to join Washington in isolating Iran.
Trump also said Washington had "very draconian sanctions" available against Iran and indicated that additional measures could be announced.
"We have things that we could sanction. We have very draconian sanctions, and we'll see what happens," Trump said while addressing technology leaders.
He said Washington would determine its next course of action based on developments, adding that the situation could either result in a significant fall in oil prices or lead to a continuation of the existing measures.
On Thursday (local time), US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also warned Iran of the "toughest sanctions in history", saying Washington will pursue coordinated economic isolation against Tehran and seek to "collapse this regime", Al Jazeera reported.
He urged US allies to join Washington in isolating Tehran, claiming that the measures would weaken Iran's ability to project influence globally.
Bessent added that a media conference on Monday, i.e August 24, would reveal "exactly what we're going to do" against Iran. (ANI)
