WASHINGTON: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent threatened Thursday to subject Iran to economic isolation "like the world has never seen before," adding that new measures are expected next week.
"It will be a combination of economic isolation, like the world has never seen before," Bessent told conservative television network Newsmax, adding that "the continued blockade in the Strait of Hormuz... will keep anything from going in or out of the Iranian ports."
"Watch this space for more announcements coming next week," he said.
Bessent described a two-pronged approach featuring financial pressure and a physical blockade of the ports.
Vice President JD Vance said earlier that the top US priority in the Iran war was bringing oil and gasoline prices down for Americans, with preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon now ranking second.
The tougher stance contrasts with remarks by Bessent on August 4, when he told CNBC that an agreement with Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could be reached within days.
Those comments sent Wall Street higher and oil prices lower.
Crude prices extended Thursday's drop of more than two percent, with investors still hopeful of a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz despite few signs of movement and the US and Iran exchanging threats.
Iran has kept control of Hormuz, a vital energy conduit, since the outbreak of the war in the Middle East on February 28, requiring vessels to obtain permission and pay transit fees before using the waterway.\
"Our Naval Blockade is being called, by everyone, 'A WALL OF STEEL,' and there is nothing Iran can do about it," he added.
However Iran has always maintained the Strait was under Iranian control. "Today, you see that the Strait of Hormuz is under the management and control of the Islamic Republic, and our country continues on its path in complete security," said Hossein Taeb, head of Iran's paramilitary Basij forces.
Iran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi on Thursday said the US makes miscalculations in regard to the waterway.
"The US has long miscalculated due to intelligence failures. Case in point: The war on Iran. Now, an even bigger miscalculation on the Strait of Hormuz," he said on X.