United States Prepares Toughest Sanctions Package Against Iran

The United States plans to impose what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described as the toughest sanctions in history on Iran. Bessent said the measures form part of a campaign to collapse the Iranian regime and will be detailed at a press conference on 24 August 2026.

President Donald Trump warned that any country allowing its financial institutions, businesses, airports or government entities to provide a lifeline to Iran would face tremendous economic consequences. The administration pairs the sanctions with a naval blockade reimposed on Iranian ports in July.

Bessent told CNBC the combination of the blockade and sanctions is a one-two punch. He suggested the focus on maximum economic pressure reduces the need for a large-scale kinetic restart of military operations. Oil prices rose after the threats but edged lower on 21 August while remaining on track for a weekly gain.

Iran buys more than 80 percent of its shipped oil from China according to 2025 Kpler data. Bessent urged China to get with the programme, noting that Beijing obtains half its energy from the Gulf. China responded that sanctions and pressure do not help resolve the problem and called for diplomatic means.

Iranian officials rejected the campaign. Parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said the United States and Israel had realised they could not prevail in a hard military war and had turned to economic and cognitive warfare. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called the approach economic terrorism. Iran's armed forces chief of staff warned of crushing, punishing and devastating responses across land, sea, air, air defence and cyberspace.

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which before the conflict carried about a fifth of traded oil, has fallen sharply. Only seven commodity ships sailed the strait on one recent day, half the previous day's figure and far below the pre-war average of more than 130 a day. Iranian oil offers to Chinese buyers have already declined since the mid-July blockade.

Iran has faced nearly continuous sanctions since the 1979 revolution. Its population now deals with high inflation, a weakening currency, energy shortages and damaged infrastructure. The latest escalation tests whether coordinated secondary sanctions can force a change in Tehran where previous rounds did not.