Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signaled on Thursday that President Donald Trump will use sanctions to cripple Iran’s Islamic regime and to bring Russia to the negotiating table to end its illegal war of aggression in Ukraine.
Bessent, who made the remarks while speaking to the Economic Club of New York, said that Trump was deploying aggressive sanctions against Iran for “immediate maximum impact.”
“We are going to shut down Iran’s oil sector and drone manufacturing capabilities,” Bessent said, adding that the administration also will cut off the regime’s access to the international financial system.
“Making Iran broke again will mark the beginning of our updated sanctions policy,” he added. “If I were an Iranian, I would get all my money out of the rial now.”
His remarks come after the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism allegedly tried on multiple occasions to assassinate Trump last year, including reports that they smuggled shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles into the U.S.
Trump, since taking office in January, said that the U.S. military has orders to destroy Iran if the Islamic regime were to assassinate him.
“If they did that they would be obliterated,” Trump said. “I’ve left instructions. If they do it, they get obliterated. There won’t be anything left.”
Bessent also spoke about imposing tough sanctions on Russia to force them to the negotiating table to bring their 3-year war in Ukraine to an end.
“A major factor that has enabled the Russian war machine’s continued financing was the Biden administration’s egregiously weak sanctions on Russian energy stemming from worries about upward pressure on U.S. energy prices during an election season,” Bessent said. “In a craven political move, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, raised the Russian sanctions on the way out the door in January.”
“What was the point of substantial U.S. military and financial support over the past three years without a commensurate and fulsome sanction support?” he continued. “This administration has kept the enhanced sanctions in place, and will not hesitate to go all in should it provide leverage in peace negotiations.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US will not hesitate to go “all in” on sanctions on Russian energy if it helps lead to a ceasefire in the Ukraine war.
Bessent spoke Thursday at the Economic Club of New York https://t.co/9Gsy848MTr pic.twitter.com/DqZvL7PFgy
— Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) March 6, 2025
