Bessent: Economic pressure campaign on Iran will continue — “until the regime decides it wants peace”

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned on Tuesday that “economic action” against Iran will continue as the United States tries to force Tehran to accept a deal to end the seven-month war. “Economic action will continue until the regime decides it wants peace,” Bessent told Fox Business, as reported by Al Jazeera’s live blog. “The pressure campaign will continue.”

The statement comes hours after the U.S. Treasury Department announced new sanctions on ten individuals and entities, including in China, Hong Kong and Pakistan, for helping Iran’s Defence Ministry procure weapons and components, as Reuters reports. According to Bessent, the sanctions aim to damage Tehran’s ability to rebuild its weapons programmes.

Bessent’s warning coincides with renewed diplomatic efforts: U.S. and Iranian officials spoke separately on Monday with mediators as part of a renewed push to end the war, while Qatar is expected to pass new proposals to Washington. Iran has proposed a seven-day plan envisaging an end to all hostilities, the unfreezing of Iranian assets and an end to sanctions on Iranian oil and to the U.S. blockade — in exchange for reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump, however, rejected reports on Monday that he had offered Iran sanctions relief, saying he had offered Tehran “nothing” — leaving unclear how pressure diplomacy will proceed alongside the new economic threats.