Bessent: US to Take New Actions Against Iran From Next Week; Trump Vows Severe Economic Pressure

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday, 22 Mordad 1405 (August 13, 2026), that Washington would take new actions against Tehran starting next week. A day later, on Friday, 23 Mordad (August 14), US President Donald Trump vowed to place severe economic pressure on Iran. According to Donya e Eqtesad, the remarks come amid Washington's broad sanctions campaign against Iran; data from the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) shows the agency has sanctioned more than 1,000 individuals, vessels and aircraft and blocked about 500 billion dollars in Iran linked cryptocurrency since the start of Trump's second term.

Brett Erickson, a senior official at risk advisory firm Obsidian, told Donya e Eqtesad that actions so far have resembled a game of whack a mole, since Tehran simply replaces sanctioned entities with new ones to evade sanctions. Miaad Meliki, a sanctions expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said further sanctions targeting Iran's aviation sector are possible as the US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz continues.