Iran Statement from US Treasury Secretary Bessent: Economic Pressure Is Increasing

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent argued that Iran's economy is increasingly under pressure due to American sanctions and a naval blockade.

Speaking to Fox News, Bessent claimed that Iran still has approximately 15 million barrels of oil in shipment.

Bessent claimed that Iran's foreign trade capacity will seriously shrink after most of this oil is delivered to China, and said that this could happen in about two weeks.

Bessent argued that Iran sought a new agreement due to economic pressure.

The US Treasury Secretary stated that the economic pressure campaign called "Operation Economic Outcast", which Washington launched last month, targets Iran's finance, oil, transportation and foreign trade connections.

The US Treasury Department explained that the purpose of the operation, announced on August 24, was to cut off Iran's global economic connections as much as possible.

According to data published by Reuters in August, after the blockade imposed by the USA, there was a significant decrease in the amount of Iranian oil offered to Chinese buyers and an increase in the sales prices of Iranian oil.

TRUMP REJECTED IRAN'S LATEST OFFER

Bessent's statements came at a time when indirect diplomatic traffic between Washington and Tehran continued.

Iran has offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and return to nuclear talks within a week if the United States lifts its naval blockade, relaxes sanctions on oil sales and a regional ceasefire is reinstated.

US President Donald Trump announced on September 26 that he did not accept Iran's latest offer.

On the other hand, Trump said in a statement a day later that he expected new talks with Iran to continue this week.

Bessent argued that the Strait of Hormuz was actually open and claimed that 15 to 22 million barrels of oil passed through the strait daily.

The US administration claims that American forces are escorting commercial ships through the strait and that the oil flow is approaching pre-war levels.

However, independent ship tracking data does not fully match the figures given by Washington.

In Reuters' news dated September 21, based on Vortexa data, it was reported that the average amount of oil passing through the Strait of Hormuz was approximately 2.9 million barrels per day in September. For this reason, the US administration's daily transit claim of 15-22 million barrels has not yet been confirmed by independent sources.

CHINA IS IN A CRITICAL POSITION IN IRAN'S OIL

The most important buyer of Iran's oil exports under sanctions has long been China.

For this reason, the US administration threatens sanctions not only on Iranian companies, but also on companies and financial institutions in third countries that mediate the transportation, financing and purchase of Iranian oil.

Bessent argued that the purpose of this policy was to ensure Tehran's compliance with any future agreement.

The Iranian administration, on the other hand, describes Washington's sanctions and naval blockade as illegal economic pressure and highlights the removal of sanctions as one of the basic conditions of a possible agreement.