Bessent Vows to Collapse Iran's Regime with Toughest Sanctions in History While Also Moving to Cap Rising Treasury Yields

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent delivered a sweeping set of announcements on Thursday, targeting both domestic bond markets and Iran's economy. On Iran, Bessent told CNBC that the United States plans to impose what he called the toughest sanctions in history, describing the goal as a coordinated economic isolation designed to "collapse this regime." He said a full press conference detailing the measures would be held on Monday. Bessent added that maximum economic pressure makes a large-scale military restart unlikely for now, and said the actions would curtail Iran's ability to operate through proxies.

He also warned that countries continuing to do business with Iran would face enforcement. Iran's Foreign Ministry rejected the measures in forceful terms, calling them economic terrorism, a crime against humanity, and an assault on the human rights of ordinary Iranians. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the sanctions were imposed after the US and Israel failed to achieve their objectives militarily and argued that the pressure would only harden Iranian resolve.

On the bond market, Bessent said the Treasury intends to "make a market" in longer-dated securities where yields have been surging. The department on Wednesday doubled its scheduled buybacks of longer-dated government debt to $4 billion, which sent yields sharply lower, though those gains largely reversed by Thursday morning as yields climbed again. Bessent also used his CNBC appearance to argue that the G20 should return to its core mission of promoting global growth as the primary tool for managing debt burdens.