Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has hit back at US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s warning of fresh sanctions against countries maintaining economic ties with Tehran, saying the United States is not in a position to further restrict Iran’s relations with other countries.
“Americans know that no one buys their bombast; the United States is not in an economic position to further restrict its relations with other countries,” Ghalibaf said. Ghalibaf’s remarks came after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the launch of “Operation Economic Outcast”, a campaign aimed at cutting Iran’s financial links with the rest of the world and restricting revenue sources that support the Iranian regime. “To the ordinary soldiers supporting this regime, as more and more of your paychecks stop or are supposedly just delayed, ask whether your commanders are leading your country to triumph or to ruin,” Bessent said. Bessent said Iran now faces a choice between complete isolation and returning to the international economy. The Treasury Secretary said US authorities had identified the networks Iran uses to move oil and circumvent sanctions.
“Iran now faces a clear choice, with only two paths before them: complete global isolation and a subsistence economy, or a path to normalcy with the opportunity to rejoin the global economy. Today we are launching Operation Economic Outcast to foreclose all other options available to the Iranian regime,” he said.
Bessent’s latest remarks came a day after he warned in an op-ed that an “economic D-Day is coming for Iran. His comments followed similar warnings from US President Donald Trump, who has been pushing for greater economic pressure on Tehran while seeking to bring Iran back to negotiations.
