WASHINGTON — Iran’s struggling economy could soon have “nothing to trade,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, predicting that the country will complete its remaining oil deliveries within roughly two weeks.
Bessent said Iran is increasingly desperate to reach an agreement as its economic crisis deepens. He attributed the worsening pressure to the administration’s Operation Economic Outcast and warned that Tehran’s situation could deteriorate sharply in the coming weeks.
“I am confident, given that there’s only 15 million more barrels of Iranian oil on the water, that Iran will have nothing left to trade for anything,” Bessent told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
“Probably within the next two weeks, they are going to make their final deliveries of oil to China, and then they will have nothing,” Bessent said. “It is an empty set. And I believe that they are feeling the pressure here, and that’s why they want a deal.”
The comments come after the Memorandum of Understanding with Iran fell apart in July. Since then, the United States has imposed a broad blockade around the regime, restricting vessels from entering or leaving the war-torn country.
Bessent unveiled Operation Economic Outcast last month as the administration intensified its campaign against Iran. The effort targets foreign governments and companies that continue doing business with the Islamic Republic.
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Last week, senior Iranian officials promoted a seven-day ceasefire proposal. Under the plan, Tehran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz in return for the United States unfreezing about $12 billion in assets, ending the blockade and easing economic sanctions.
President Trump rejected the proposal, telling reporters that the terms were unacceptable.
“The straits are open,” Bessent said. “We’re averaging now 15 to 22 million barrels a day… It was at about 20 [million] pre-conflict.”
The Strait of Hormuz has experienced repeated disruptions since early March, when Iran launched sporadic attacks on vessels. Before the conflict, the waterway carried nearly one-fifth of the world’s seaborne oil supplies each year.
The Trump administration, however, has said that US military forces are escorting commercial ships along a route near Oman’s coastline.
“They are isolated from the world,” Bessent said. “They are a pariah state. And my job is to make sure that, when they come with a deal, that they want to stick to it. They did not stick to the MOU.”
“Next time, if there is a deal, and that’s at President Trump’s discretion, they will stick to it, because they are on their knees,” he added.