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The impending escalation comes as both sides breached a 60-day ceasefire period to reach an agreement, closing the formal truce mechanism aimed at ending the Middle East war now in its sixth month.
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The new measures will add to a broad sanctions regime that already targets Iran’s banking, energy, aviation and cryptocurrency sectors. The Trump administration has claimed that Iran’s economy is in free fall, with rampant inflation and a collapsing currency.
Bessent also warned that “any nation that serves as the financial artery of a withering regime should share its isolation,” language aimed squarely at foreign governments still transacting with Tehran. He previously warned of new secondary sanctions on nations and entities doing business with Iran.
Iran has responded by warning its Gulf neighbors not to join US economic measures and by tightening its control over the chokepoint, through which about a fifth of the world’s maritime oil passed before the war.
On Saturday, Mohsen Rezaei, a veteran military commander who became the new secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council earlier this month, vowed to attack the interests of oil-rich neighbors if they joined US efforts to further isolate Iran.
“Any country that becomes a partner to create economic restrictions against us will be considered an enemy,” he said in an interview with Iran’s state broadcaster.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also dismissed the threat of a new round of US economic sanctions as a “desperate” ploy, stating that US actions, such as the blockade, were doomed to fail.
Tehran’s parliament on Sunday approved a provision stipulating that ships passing through the Hormuz bottleneck will pay for services provided by Tehran, according to local media reports. The legislation still needs full parliamentary approval.
Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi is scheduled to visit Tehran on Tuesday for bilateral talks with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi, local media reported on Monday. Both sides will continue talks on the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei.
Crude oil retreated in Asian trading on Monday despite the impending rally. West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. benchmark, fell about 1.3% to $85.93 a barrel, and Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 1.3% to $93.22 a barrel.
The UK’s Maritime Trade Operations agency reported no confirmed attacks in the strait in the 48 hours to Sunday, although it warned of a “continuing risk of drifting or unexplored mines”, with mine danger areas still active.
