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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Announces New Iran Sanctions. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired August 24, 2026 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[13:00:00]

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So, you don't even have a president who is showing any kind of empathy out there. And the other part of this to take to keep in mind is part of the reason that Trump was able to win in 2024, one was the economy, but, two, they were able to microtarget low-propensity voters, people who don't vote often, to bring them out, with the assumption that people who are paying attention are -- either they like Trump or they don't like Trump.

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The White House waging battles on a friend and foe. Any moment, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is set to unveil what he says will be the single greatest financial offensive ever against a U.S. enemy, Bessent vowing an economic D-Day is coming for Iran as he and President Trump threaten countries against doing business with Tehran.

SANCHEZ: At the same time, President Trump's clash with Canada is getting uglier. Today, he called America's neighbor to the north -- quote -- "among the worst nations in the world to deal with," adding: "We don't need Canada. They need us."

CNN's Alayna Treene live for us at the White House.

Alayna, let's start with Iran. What is the latest there from the treasury secretary?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, we're standing by to hear from him any moment now at the Treasury Department, Boris and Brianna.

And, really, we're going to hear him announce a series of different measures to try and isolate Iran economically. We know in recent days the president has really signaled to his advisers that, one, he wanted them to stop and cease all communications with the Iranians, including some of the mediators, and shift this war more from a military one to an economic one.

And you're going to hear from Bessent today on what he describes as the most comprehensive assault on Iran's economy to date. Now, again, this all really does go back to this idea that they want to choke off Tehran and their economy from the rest of the world.

And the Trump administration is calling on U.S. allies to do that. At the same time, they're arguing that other countries and nations who continue boosting Iran, including by purchasing some of their oil...

KEILAR: Alayna, sorry to interrupt you.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Let's go to the treasury secretary.

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SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY: ... the Islamic Republic of Iran and its enablers.

In the Second World War, D-Day marked the historic beginning of a campaign with our allies to target and drive the enemy from its positions, including those in third countries. Today, in that same spirit, we are launching an economic onslaught against Iran's financial connections around the globe, around the globe.

Our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains this tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone. Iran's fanatics devote themselves to death to America and seek nuclear weapons to do just that. They have murdered and maimed more of our citizens and service members than any other terrorist regime on Earth.

And they have been at war against America, their neighbors in the Gulf, and much of the world for 47 years. President Trump has taken action that his predecessors have long deferred. And, under his leadership, America is no longer managing the Iranian threat. We are ending it.

Our great armed forces have laid the groundwork for achieving the president's objective of preventing Iran from ever obtaining nuclear weapons. They have shown America's resolve to finally end this threat. And the strength of America's economy under President Trump allows us to wage this sustained financial operation alongside the might of our military.

Iran now faces a very clear choice with only two paths before them, complete global isolation and a subsistence economy or a path back to normalcy with an opportunity to rejoin the global economy.

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Today, we are launching Operation Economic Outcast to foreclose every other option available to the Iranian regime. Treasury has mapped every node, every facilitator, and every network that Iran has used to smuggle oil and evade sanctions.

Beginning today, the actions of Treasury and other agencies will tighten the noose and block every potential source of revenue that funds the IRGC and the evil Iranian regime. We are enforcing a zero leakage approach.

There will be no minimal breathing space for the regime to rebuild its capacity to inflict terror against America and the world. The final refuge of this regime is the mistaken conclusion of nations that still finance the Iranian threat in the hopes of evading it.

It is no longer acceptable to operate in the gray spaces of this conflict. Countries cannot claim they are blind to enabling this activity. Iran's enablers purchase, transport its petroleum. They facilitate the flow of its finances through exchange houses and free trade zones. They welcome Iran's flights and maintain registries on its behalf.

They turn a blind eye to seaborne fuel transfers and overland transits. They condone illicit use of their banks, all the while concealing the extent of their complicity. The president is making phone calls to world leaders with specific requests to cease their interactions with the regime. We are already seeing results. Over the weekend, comments from Iranian

leadership clearly acknowledged the effect of this campaign. And nations that facilitate any interactions with the regime should quickly heed our message. Those who stand with the United States will reap the rewards of our partnership.

Those who tether themselves to the Iranian regime should expect to share in the isolation of a withering regime. Teams from Treasury, State, and the U.S. military are now meeting with their global counterparts to tell them that the United States expects action.

Every country has a defined timeline to shut down activities we have identified. If they do not take action, we will do so unilaterally through Treasury authorities. For example, every branch of Bank Melli must be shuttered and dark.

And let me be clear. Any entity that facilitates money laundering on behalf of Iran will be removed from the U.S. dollar system. The clock just started ticking. The new sectoral sanctions determinations issued today target five of Iran's most vital lifelines that it exploits in other countries, digital assets, technology, gold, aviation, and shipping.

These measures broaden secondary sanctions risk for anyone foolish enough to continue conducting business with this regime and will accelerate the speed with which we pursue them.

As I speak, Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control is also sanctioning over 60 entities, individuals, and vessels around the world that enable the Iranian regime to procure illicit nuclear and missile technology, conduct cyber operations, and generate oil revenue.

This is a sustained campaign to collapse every last option for Iran. Let there be no ambiguity as to the position of the United States. An economic engagement of any kind with this murderous regime will expose those responsible to the full reach of American power.

For decades, this regime has drawn strength from a calculus that regards Iranian retaliation as certain and American enforcement as negotiable. Under President Trump, that era is over.

To the ordinary soldiers supporting this regime, as more and more of your paychecks stop or are supposedly just delayed, ask whether your commanders are leading your country to triumph or to ruin, and recall that the Berlin Wall fell when ordinary soldiers decided not to shoot at their own people.

And to those who enable Tehran, do not discount the cost of testing Washington's resolve. No nation should expect to enjoy the rewards of our system while helping those who seek to destroy it.

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It is now a time for world leaders to make a decision between prosperity and isolation, peace and terror, America and Iran. The campaign we begin today will gather force with every day that follows, and it will not end until this regime stands alone.

With that, I welcome your questions.

David from Reuters.

QUESTION: Hi. Thanks, Secretary.

One of the most powerful tools you have at your disposal is the ability to impose secondary sanctions on banks and financial institutions that facilitate transactions for Iran. Chinese banks have often been talked about talked about being targeted, but we don't see any of those institutions targeted here.

Is that something that is coming in this campaign, or is the very delicate trade truce with China something that could prohibit you from going that far and taking that very big step?

BESSENT: We want to make clear to -- here today that no one is above the reach of U.S. sanctions, that if they facilitate transactions and are part of the ecosystem that turns Iranian oil into money, into repression, they will be targeted.

We find that the best way to engage with countries is through quiet diplomacy, and we are level-setting with every country to tell them our expectations. We know who they are. They know who they are. So when the hammer of U.S. Treasury actions falls upon them, they will have no one to blame but themselves.

So, Richard from CBS.

QUESTION: Thank you, sir. Thank you.

You said the president is calling world leaders with specific asks and that and that there is a defined timeline. Who is he calling and what are the asks?

BESSENT: We're not going to name names, that we have already seen some results, and that I am confident the president, as you all know, is quite persuasive.

And we are following his calls up with calls from -- visits and calls from the State Department and from the U.S. Treasury, expecting them or telling the leaders in the countries and the entities exactly what we expect and the timelines, and I would expect that, very quickly, if they do not respond, then you will see the ramifications of their actions.

QUESTION: Can you say how far the timelines are?

BESSENT: Again, I'm not going to set timelines, but we do not have infinite patience here.

Jennifer.

QUESTION: Thank you so much, Mr. Secretary. Jennifer Schonberger with Yahoo Finance. You just said moments ago that no one is above U.S. sanctions. What

specific secondary sanctions or penalties is Treasury prepared to levy against Chinese banks and shipping firms if they do not comply?

And then, secondly, as you look to take these unprecedented sanctions, you have also said that the Iran -- as the Iran conflict fades and oil prices recede, that will help bring down long-term bond yields. In the meantime, you have mentioned your toolkit, and I'm curious if you are looking at reducing auction sizes for longer-term-dated Treasury debt going forward and what other actions you may consider from that toolkit.

BESSENT: Well, why don't we work backwards? We issued the quarterly refunding announcement 2.5 weeks ago. We are going to continue the -- with our regular program of auctions.

So you will be hearing from us again at the beginning of next quarter. In terms of -- as I said, every country, every entity should know that they should be prepared to face U.S. sanctions. And the -- no one is above this. We are going to hold everyone accountable, and this is economic asphyxiation of this regime.

And, Jennifer, as I said, no one should test our resolve.

So, Josh from "The New York Post."

[13:15:00]

QUESTION: You said you weren't going to name names, but there's been some reports that the United Arab Emirates is among some of the first nations to take seriously these words from the United States to cut off all business interactions with Iran. Is UAE leading the way in this respect?

BESSENT: I would think that the actions that they took last week were not coincident, but likely causal.

And I would expect that we would see a broad array of countries taking similar actions as we continue our engagement. The UAE have been very good partners and have taken the brunt of the Iranian attacks in the Gulf. And what have -- what have these countries gotten over the years from appeasing Iran?

They were subject to violent attacks. While we were bombing Iran, they were bombing them. So it shows that, with this regime, appeasement does not work. And on the other side, with this regime, trying to buy appeasement will no longer work in the eyes of the United States of America.

And I want to emphasize that we are spreading out across the world as we speak, that you will see a wave of sanctions when you leave this meeting today, and you should expect that cadence to continue. And I would expect that you will see a major announcement of a financial institution being sanctioned by the end of this week.

So, Samira (ph) from Sky? QUESTION: Mr. Secretary?

BESSENT: Yes, no. No, are you -- no, I'm looking for Samira from Sky.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

BESSENT: No. Hi.

QUESTION: Does the United States and President Trump still want Canada to become a state? He did say that they're getting all the benefits of being a state without being one.

BESSENT: I think he would like Canada to come to the table and negotiate in good faith. They were offered quite a good deal last week. They chose to reject it.

Unfortunately, Prime Minister Carney rose to power on an anti- American, anti-Trump platform. I believe he was more than 20 points behind. And he seems to have gone back to his old playbook. And I think one has to ask oneself, is he trying to benefit himself, the Liberal Party, or the Canadian people?

Because they were offered a very good job.

So, yes.

QUESTION: Thank you, Secretary Bessent.

If I could shift to bond yields quickly, we saw them tick down today after some turbulence and going up last week. Can you tell us if there's any possibility that there will be more bond buybacks any time soon?

BESSENT: Again, we haven't bought a single bond yet. The next -- the next time we have an operation is September 9. So we will see on September 9.

All right, one more. Let's see. You in the front.

QUESTION: You described this as an economic D-Day, but D-Day wasn't a threat of an invasion, and the U.S. didn't give a timeline to Germany. So why not impose the sanctions today?

BESSENT: Well, we are giving everyone the opportunity to remedy bad behavior. Why would I want to blow up the global financial system? We believe that it is important to level-set and give people a cure period, but they should know that that will move very quickly and that we are serious.

Secondary sanctions are a very powerful tool, and we here at Treasury -- this is Gene Lange, the acting undersecretary for terrorism finance. And in the Terrorism Finance Department and at OFAC, the reason we are able to use secondary sanctions is because we do not take their use lightly.

So we believe that a warning shot and a level-set of expectations is appropriate. And if people do not want to meet our expectations, then we expect and they should expect that they should -- will leave the dollar system.

OK, thank you all.

SANCHEZ: We have been listening to the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, touting this as a historic day, as the U.S. targets Iran and, he says, its enablers, evoking D-Day and World War II, even the reunification of Germany at the end of the Cold War there.

[13:20:05]

He announced that the U.S. is launching an economic onslaught against anyone who allows Iran to continue to profit off of oil exports, and also any lifeline that keeps the regime afloat by way of missile technology, illicit nuclear sales, conducting cyber operations, and, again, oil revenue.

Notably, though, he was asked about one of Tehran's biggest backers, China, and he didn't mention neither China nor Russia nor India at any point during these remarks, saying, we're not going to name names, but President Trump is making calls to world leaders with specific demands.

KEILAR: Yes, he said that there is quiet diplomacy that they are pursuing. But the fact is, there are a lot of American allies out there who do some business with Iran who will be affected by this if they don't change certainly some of their economic behavior.

He said, "If they're part of the ecosystem that is turning Iranian oil into money, no one is going to be above the reach of these U.S. sanctions."

So, lots of questions about China, because they're really the key here.

Let's talk to Jeremy Diamond, who is in Tel Aviv, about the very latest there.

Jeremy, what are you hearing?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, you -- without a doubt, Treasury Secretary Bessent's message is going to ripple around the world. A lot of questions are going to be raised by U.S. allies.

I do think it was interesting that, when you think about what's happened in the last few days, it was only a few days ago that the UAE, a close U.S. ally, before this announcement announced that it was cutting off all trade ties with Iran, and that is quite a significant trade relationship.

At the time, it seemed like it was because of some ballistic missiles that Iran had fired in the direction of UAE territory. But I think, with this announcement now, it seems quite clear that there has already been some quiet behind-the-scenes diplomacy, and it does appear as if the UAE heeded this threat from the United States to impose these secondary sanctions and decided to kind of take action into its own matters.

Now, as it relates to the Iranian response, we haven't yet received a response to Bessent's remarks just now, but they have been responding generally to this threat from the United States of broader economic warfare. We heard from Iran's top security official, Mohsen Rezaei, who said that Iran will neutralize the economic war.

And he also had a message for any Gulf countries allied with the United States that would seek to support the United States' economic warfare against Iran, vowing that Iran would stop all flows of oil out of the Persian Gulf, including out of the Strait of Hormuz.

And that appears to be a threat of military action. That would be the clearest way for Iran to prevent those outflows. Now, whether they can actually do that or not is another question. But Iran certainly has shown an ability and a willingness to continue to escalate on the military ladder as the United States tries to escalate things from a financial and diplomatic isolation standpoint.

And so it seems as if, as the United States is turning towards escalatory measures on the economic front, Iran is signaling that it is willing and able to counter those measures with its own military responses. We do also know that Iranian officials met today with the Pakistani field marshal, who was in Tehran today trying to get these negotiations back on track.

But in the absence of any progress on that front, it does very much seem like both the United States and Iran are heading for more escalation.

SANCHEZ: Jeremy Diamond, live for us in Tel Aviv, thank you so much.

Let's get some analysis on these headlines with Justin Wolfers -- he's a professor of economics at the University of Michigan -- and Colonel Cedric Leighton, a CNN military analyst.

Colonel Leighton, first to you.

What is this going to do for the U.S. in its attempt to achieve these objectives and get concessions from Tehran?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: This is going to be really interesting to watch, Boris, because there are several things that are at play here when it comes to Iran and how it's actually functioning economically.

One of them is that they have the Caspian Sea, which connects them to Russia. So they can use the Caspian Sea as basically a trade route that allows the Russians to transfer weapons, transfer goods of various types. So they have that.

They also have a rail line that -- actually two rail lines that cross into Turkmenistan from Iran. Those two rail lines would be ripe military targets in a case like this, in addition to the economic sanctions.

If those rail lines are not attacked by the United States or any other party, they could still be used to transfer a lot of goods and services between Russia, the Russian rail system and the Chinese rail system into Iran, because those rail systems connect via Turkmenistan and the other countries into Iranian -- into the Iranian railroad system.

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So those areas would be kind of key if you're going to really impose true sanctions on the Iranians, because the way things are set up there, the Iranians have the capability to use those two areas, the Caspian Sea, as well as the land borders into Turkmenistan, for some pretty significant financial gain, actually.

KEILAR: And, Justin, how do you see this working and how do you see it affecting the global economy?

JUSTIN WOLFERS, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: Yes, I just want to start with a quote I just found. It's from 1962 from John F. Kennedy's secretary of state.

He said: "Our aim is to tighten the noose around the Cuban economy until that regime becomes a complete pariah." The analogy, the language is so similar to that Scott Bessent was just using with respect to Iran. The economic approach is exactly the same. We want to not only create a blockade around the island nation of Cuba, or, in this case, around Iran, but also punish anyone who gets involved and does business.

It was then with the Cubans, now with the Iranians. Well, what ultimately happened? Castro stayed in power. He outlived Kennedy. We still have those sanctions and the regime more than 60 years later hasn't toppled. So, if at first you don't succeed with Cuba, try, try again in Iran.

The big question here is, what happens if the rest of the world doesn't want to join us in this adventure? If so, if they don't want to join us, then the president has effectively just declared a trade war against all of those other countries as well. So the implications for the United States are huge.

It's not just trade. It's also the financial plumbing, which the U.S. owns a lot of the pipes. The Iranians own the Strait of Hormuz that you get oil out through. We own the financial pipes, and he's sort of saying we're not going to give you access to those pipes. Look, the value of those pipes is going to change as well.

SANCHEZ: Well, when it comes to U.S. consumers, I imagine that actually striking out on that kind of action against Russia and China and others perhaps, wouldn't that make the price of everyday goods go up for Americans outside of just energy prices?

WOLFERS: Yes, so look, if everyone guys along, if they all say, as a global community, we believe that Iran is a pariah and we all get together and we agree in a room that this is what we want to do, that would cause immense harm in Iran and none -- and not much in the United States.

If the rest of the global community is not convinced it's in their best interests, then the United States would have to impose sanctions against those who do business with Iran, in which case it's Americans who are going to suffer enormously as a result of that, which is why I still wonder why the administration won't just sit down with the American people, look us in the eye, make the case for this and be honest and say they're asking you and I to suffer for a war effort.

If we'd had that discussion, then maybe people would be willing to make those sacrifices. Instead, they're lying about the sacrifices that may well be required if -- and there's a big if here -- if they live up to what they're saying they're going to do.

KEILAR: Yes, they may not be connecting the dots for people here.

And so, Colonel, as we're looking at this pivot towards economic warfare instead, but Iran is making it clear that their response may be a military one, right, in the Strait of Hormuz, physically affecting the flow of oil in a way that requires a military engagement by the U.S.

For what was supposed to be an in-and-out military engagement, where does that now leave the U.S.?

LEIGHTON: Yes, so the U.S. is basically stuck militarily, because you have to have a military presence in order to enforce any sanctions that are being levied on Iran.

So, in addition to all the economic aspects that Justin was talking about, as well as shutting off the pipes like the SWIFT system and things like that, what you have to do is, you have to maintain that presence in and around the Persian Gulf and especially around the Strait of Hormuz.

That's going to be much more difficult because you have a lot of the bases that we have relied on in the past have basically, you can't quite say rendered useless, but they have definitely been impacted by Iranian drone and missile attacks throughout the course of this war.

So the Iranians have the strength of geography at their at their feet. They also have the ability to swarm activities like their fast boats, their drones, their missiles obviously. And when they can -- when they do that, they can impact things like carrier battle groups.

So this is going to be a critical moment as the George Washington comes in, has now come into the Arabian Sea, and replaced the Abraham Lincoln as a carrier. It's going to be important for the crew on the George Washington and the entire carrier battle group to be ready for this kind of activity, because the Iranians, they mean what they say at this particular moment in time.

And you can expect them to go after not only U.S. military forces, but also U.S. economic interests in the Gulf, as well as the economic and military interests and bases of the Arab Gulf nations.