US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Fox News on May 3 that Washington is increasing economic pressure on Iran through sanctions, asset freezes and a virtual naval blockade.
According to him, US President Donald Trump ordered the implementation of a strategy of “economic rage” against Tehran. The US is monitoring Iran's financial networks, foreign assets and attempts to transfer funds to support the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Bessent noted that American authorities, together with a number of Gulf countries, are identifying and blocking Iranian assets. At the same time, the US Navy is participating in supply restrictions, which, in his words, “literally strangles the regime” and deprives it of resources, including funding for the army.
The minister added that Iran's oil infrastructure is degrading: storage facilities are overflowing, and in the near future the country may be forced to reduce production. Against this background, he believes, world oil prices will decline “in three, six, nine months.”
“Hundreds of oil tankers are waiting to leave [Персидского] Bay,” Bessent said.
