US pushes allies and China to back Trump's economic warfare on Iran 

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - WASHINGTON —US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday warned allies that they would either be with them or against them when it comes to economically isolating Iran. He said the new push to ramp up sanctions against Iran would be the "greatest coordinated economic isolation" in the history of the world.

In a message to allies, Bessent said, "This is going to be the greatest coordinated economic isolation in the history of the world. And we are going to them and saying you are either with us or against us".

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 US 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.

The US on Thursday issued fresh sanctions targeting Lebanon’s Hezbollah, including re-designating it over actions on behalf of the Iranian government, ​according to a statement seen by Reuters.

The Treasury Department redesignated the group “for service to the Iranian regime under the command of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force,” according to the statement.

A US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the redesignation was intended to show that Hezbollah is acting on behalf of the Iranian government, specificallyIran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force.

Hezbollah ‌was designated as ‌a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 1997 ​and ‌a ⁠Specially Designated ​Global ⁠Terrorist in 2001.

Hezbollah is both a political party and an armed group in Lebanon. Sanctions seek to disrupt funding networks and isolate targets by imposing asset freezes, banning banks from dealing with named entities and prohibiting the flow of goods, services and material support.

Thousands have been killed in the conflict, which drew in Gulf nations and shocked markets ‌as Iran flexed its ‌ability to curb shipping through the Strait of Hormuz — a waterway that carried about a ​fifth ‌of ⁠all traded ​oil ⁠before February.

The US and Iran have twice announced ceasefire deals, in April and June, aiming to restore the free flow of shipping through Hormuz on a path toward ending the conflict, but both quickly crumbled.

Before Bessent spoke, Iran’s foreign ministry said it condemned US economic and trade sanctions, calling them “economic terrorism” that would target ordinary Iranians and amount to crimes against humanity.

Bessent told CNBC he would share more details and “talk about exactly what we’re going to do” on Iran at a press conference on Monday.

“It is a one-two punch. We have the blockade (on Iran), and we are going to have the toughest sanctions in history,” he added, referring to a US naval blockade imposed on Iran in April and paused for a ⁠month in mid-June.

“It is going to work in Iran and we are going to ‌collapse this regime. It is time for our allies and the rest of the ‌world to make a decision,” he said.

When asked if the United States could target ​China for doing business with Iran, Bessent said many conversations were ‌best to have in private.

“Keep in mind that the Chinese get 50 percent (of their) energy from inside from the Gulf. So it would ‌do them a big service to get with the program,” he said.

China buys more than 80 percent of Iran’s shipped oil, according to 2025 data from analytics firm Kpler, but engaging in further economic warfare with China, a major exporter to the US including vital rare-earth minerals, risks retaliation against Washington.

Iran has weathered ‌near-continuous, punishing economic sanctions for nearly 50 years, since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.

“ANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will ⁠itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences,” Trump ⁠wrote.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi called Trump’s comments an attempt to divert American public opinion from domestic financial problems, including record debt and rising interest rates.

He said Washington’s insistence on policies he described as failed would bring further failures and alienate Iranians.

“America’s economic terrorism threatens the global economy and the national sovereignty of countries around the world,” he said on X.

Trump has yet to achieve the objectives he set out at the start of the war: dismantling Iran’s nuclear program, curbing its ability to attack regional rivals and creating conditions for Iranians to overthrow their clerical rulers.

Trump’s social media threats and announcements do not always get implemented as written. He did not say what specific steps the US would take or name any country, though the warning would appear to extend to US allies that have helped mediate peace talks.

Iran has separately been negotiating an agreement on managing the Strait of Hormuz with Oman and has said several times in recent weeks that an agreement was close.

Trump responded on Monday to those negotiations with a threat, warning he might bomb the Gulf state, a ​longstanding US security partner, if it “gets in the way.”

Omani Foreign ​Minister Badr Albusaidi, speaking after meeting his Japanese counterpart, said on Thursday that lasting security in the strait required a permanent peace in the region and rejected further escalation.