I am not in a Hurry to End Iran's War - Trump Said

 

Richard Goldberg, who served as a senior adviser on Iran at the National Security Council during Trump’s first White House term, argues that Iran now finds itself in “uncharted waters” if the administration follows through with a truly biting campaign to pressure Iranian trade partners.

“What we should be seeing is an attempt to seal off every escape hatch the regime has left,” said Goldberg, who is now at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a hawkish Washington think tank. “Use the economic power of the United States to layer a naval blockade with an air and land embargo while dropping the hammer on anyone who gives the regime access to hard currency — whether that’s in the Middle East, China or even Europe.”

But it remains to be seen how far the administration is willing to go.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this week unveiled a campaign the White House calls “Operation Economic Outcast,” but only issued warnings to nations to cut trade and has yet to announce any secondary sanctions. Bessent told reporters the administration wanted countries to have a chance to shift away from Iran before it was too late — and acknowledged there was economic risk to the U.S., too, in moving ahead.

The Treasury Department announced on Friday that it was taking steps that could lead to eventually severing Banque Misr, Egypt’s second-largest bank, from the U.S. financial system. The department accused the bank of serving as an economic lifeline to Tehran’s leadership.

China, which is Iran’s biggest trade partner and oil buyer, responded earlier this week to the Trump administration’s broad threats of going after countries and firms that still do trade with Iran by expressing its opposition to “illegal unilateral sanctions.”

Pressed Thursday about why he wasn’t already sanctioning Chinese banks, Trump offered a cryptic response.

“Who said I’m not? You don’t know if I’m doing it,” Trump said. “I don’t have to announce everything, do I?”