The U.S. will impose "the toughest sanctions in history" on Iran, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday, a focus on economic measures he suggested would lessen the need for new major military operations against Tehran.
His statement followed President Donald Trump's threat a day earlier of "Economic Warfare" and warning of economic consequences against any country that provided "any type of lifeline to Iran."
Oil prices rose to more than a three-week high on Thursday following those U.S. threats of financial penalties aimed at forcing an end to a nearly six-month-old war that has stranded millions of barrels of Middle Eastern oil.
"I'm not sure why oil has popped up on this," Bessent told CNBC. "If we are doing the maximum economic pressure, then that means that likely there will not be a large-scale kinetic restart," he said, using a term referring to military force.
Iran calls U.S. sanctions 'economic terrorism'
