WASHINGTON: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that Washington would seek to “sever every tie” Iran has with the outside world, saying that cutting off support for Tehran was the “fastest way” to end the conflict as the Trump administration steps up economic pressure on Iran.
“We are going to sever every tie that they have from the outside world,” Bessent said in an interview with Fox News.
The US Treasury Secretary urged governments and other actors to “stay away” from Iran, saying the fastest way to end the conflict was for no one to support the Iranian government.
“We all want this conflict to end, and the fastest way for the conflict to end is for no one to provide any support to this regime,” Bessent told “Fox & Friends”.
.@SecScottBessent: “We are going to sever every tie that [Iran] has to the outside world… This is all hands on deck.” pic.twitter.com/BYmW0HdH3g
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 2, 2026
Bessent said the Treasury was prepared to use newly created authorities to target airlines, maritime companies and digital assets. He added that Treasury and State Department officials were holding “fulsome talks” with actors supporting Tehran.
US sanctions campaign against Iran
Bessent said on Tuesday that the administration could target airline leasing companies and impose additional sanctions on Iranian banks.
He also said Washington was seeking to identify and freeze assets linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including offshore accounts and properties.
“We are going to economically asphyxiate this regime,” Bessent said during a discussion moderated by economist Larry Kudlow ahead of meetings with G20 finance ministers in Asheville, North Carolina.
“My job is to make sure that they want to have a deal, and they will want to have one,” he said.
Bessent said US authorities were tracking IRGC assets in the British Virgin Islands and elsewhere and would work with international partners to freeze them.
The Treasury Department last week announced what it called “Operation Economic Outcast”, aimed at isolating Iran economically alongside a US naval blockade that President Donald Trump reimposed in July.
Bessent has said the sanctions campaign could either weaken the Iranian government or force it back to negotiations.
Iran threatens ‘new strategy’
Meanwhile, Iran has vowed to respond to the latest US strikes.
Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Tehran would adopt a “new strategy” on the battlefield, in diplomacy and in confronting what he described as an economic blockade.
“You will soon see that Iran’s new strategy … will shatter your foundations,” Rezaei wrote on X.
با این دست و پا زدنها، نه تنها از قعر جهنمی که برای خود ساختهاید بیرون نخواهید آمد، بلکه به زودی خواهید دید راهبرد جدید ایران در میدان جنگ، دیپلماسی و مقابله با محاصره اقتصادی، بنیانتان را درهم خواهد شکست.
— محسن رضایی (@ir_rezaee) September 2, 2026
Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Tehran was pursuing fundamental struggle against “arrogance”.
Speaking during a meeting with Hamas officials, Ghalibaf said negotiations were a “tool for struggle”. He also called on Washington to fulfil its obligations under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, saying this would allow Iran to take steps towards reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
قالیباف در دیدار مسئول ارتباطات اسلامی جنبش حماس: ما مذاکره را نفی نمیکنیم؛ مذاکره یک ابزار برای مبارزه است
-آمریکاییها باید به تعهدات خود عمل کنند تا ما اقدام به بازگشایی تنگه هرمز کنیم https://t.co/Iu0dPAAFeP pic.twitter.com/LgVOvQW6aP— خبرگزاری ایسنا (@isna_farsi) September 2, 2026
Renewed US-Iran escalation
The latest escalation has also produced conflicting claims over civilian casualties.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei described a deadly US strike on a wedding ceremony in Sirik, southern Iran, as a “war crime”.
Iranian state media reported that at least four people, including a child, were killed and more than 50 wounded in the strike. The Iranian Red Crescent also reported four deaths.
حقیقت جنگ غیرقانونی آمریکا علیه ایران دیشب در #سیریک به نمایش درآمد؛ جایی که یک مراسم عروسی، در چارچوب تلاش مذبوحانه آمریکا برای پنهانکردن شکست خود، بمباران شد؛ واقعیت، جنایتهایی است که آمریکا مرتکب میشود نه ویدئوهای تولیدشده با هوش مصنوعی که به دروغ مقامهای آمریکایی را… pic.twitter.com/tKDPTHdV5u
— Esmaeil Baqaei (@IRIMFA_SPOX) September 2, 2026
However, US Central Command denied targeting civilians. “The US military never targets civilians, unlike the Revolutionary Guards,” CENTCOM spokesman Captain Tim Hawkins told Reuters.
Baqaei rejected the US account and accused Washington of attempting to deny responsibility for civilian deaths.
The latest confrontation followed US strikes on Iranian targets earlier on Tuesday.
Also Read: Tehran Retaliates After US Strikes Kill 11 In Southern Iran
Iranian state media reported that 11 people were killed in US strikes, including seven in attacks on three locations in Khuzestan province. The province’s deputy governor for security and law enforcement affairs, quoted by IRNA, said eight people were also wounded.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched ballistic missiles at a US Marine base in Aqaba, Jordan, in retaliation for the Sirik strike.
The Jordanian Armed Forces said its air defences intercepted 13 ballistic missiles. Ten were destroyed and three fell in remote areas, it said.
Kuwait’s army separately said its air defences were responding to Iranian missile attacks early on Wednesday.
Strait of Hormuz tensions
US Central Command said the latest American strikes followed recent attempted attacks by the IRGC against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
CENTCOM said US forces began striking IRGC targets at 12:00 Eastern Time and completed the operation by early Wednesday.
Iranian state media reported projectiles striking areas around Chabahar and Konarak, as well as an airport in Jiroft. Explosions were also reported on Qeshm Island and in Bandar Abbas.
Also Read: Pakistan Vows to Continue Efforts for Diplomatic Resolution of US-Iran Conflict
The latest escalation has heightened concerns over the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, through which a major share of the world’s oil supplies passes.
Both Washington and Tehran have also targeted shipping during the conflict. Iran has attacked vessels it says attempted to cross the strait without permission, while the United States has enforced a naval blockade of Iranian ports.
A US-Iran agreement, known as the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, was signed in June to extend a ceasefire between the two countries.
President Trump on Tuesday warned that Iran would face attacks at “a much harder and higher level” if it retaliated against the latest US strikes.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday that Tehran would reciprocate if Washington returned to its commitments under the Islamabad MoU.
