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M.A. Rothman @MichaelARothman 𝐁𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐂𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐎𝐍 𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐍 𝐘𝐄𝐓 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 — 𝐍𝐀𝐕𝐀𝐋 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐀𝐓 𝟏𝟎𝟎%
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) used a new television interview to tease the next phase of Washington's economic pressure campaign on Tehran, and he didn't undersell it.
“𝘞𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘐𝘳𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬,” Bessent said. “𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴.” Reporting this month has already tied the buildup to a campaign officials are privately calling “𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐅𝐮𝐫𝐲” — sanctions on Iranian exchange houses, with warnings already sent to banks across China, Hong Kong and the UAE that the next round could target them directly.
On the military side of the pressure campaign, Bessent said the results speak for themselves: “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘕𝘰 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘐𝘳𝘢𝘯.” That's held, he said, aside from a couple of deliberate pauses tied to negotiations that “𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥.”
The goal, per Bessent, is squeezing Iran's oil exports toward zero without a corresponding spike at the pump — a bet that 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 forces Tehran to the table faster than any single strike could.
𝐒𝐞𝐚 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐚𝐝𝐞, 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 — 𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬.
https://x.com/MichaelARothman/status/2090226029130592348

Marv the Mountaineer Musiceer @MountainMarvLad - Video: GM! This song hits me so hard.
You're the only one I want
And I've never heard your name
Well, let's hope we meet someday
If we don't it's all the same
And I'll meet the ones between us
And be thinkin' 'bout you
And all the places I have seen