US plans 'toughest sanctions' on Iran

Tehran dubs move 'economic terrorism', 'crimes against humanity'

WASHINGTON/DUBAI:

The US will impose "the toughest sanctions in history" on Iran, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday, a focus on economic measures he suggested would lessen the need for new major military operations against Tehran.

His statement followed President Donald Trump's threat a day earlier of "Economic Warfare" and warning of economic consequences against any country that provided "any type of lifeline to Iran".

Iran accused the United States of "economic terrorism" and "crimes against humanity" on Thursday.

"Undoubtedly, the US economic sanctions against Iran, which have targeted the fundamental human rights of every Iranian citizen, are a case of 'economic terrorism' and 'crimes against humanity', and the perpetrators and instigators of these sanctions are deserving of trial and punishment for committing such heinous crimes," Iran's foreign ministry said in a statement carried by state media.

Oil prices rose to more than a three-week high on Thursday following those US threats of financial penalties aimed at forcing an end to a nearly six-month-old war that has stranded millions of barrels of Middle Eastern oil.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he was launching a major new campaign to target Iran's economy, threatening "tremendous" punishment on any country that helps or does business with the Islamic republic.

"Today, I am announcing the MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY! This will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

"ANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences," he said.

He did not specify what punishment countries would face, and none other than Iran were mentioned by name.

He listed several activities that he said need to stop immediately: "oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries, front companies."

"I'm not sure why oil has popped up on this," Bessent told CNBC. "If we are doing the maximum economic pressure, then that means that likely there will not be a large-scale kinetic restart," he said, using a term referring to military force.

Bessent told CNBC he would share more details and "talk about exactly what we're going to do" on Iran at a press conference on Monday. "It is a one-two punch. We have the blockade (on Iran), and we are going to have the toughest sanctions in history," he added, referring to a US naval blockade imposed on Iran in April and paused for a month in mid-June.