US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent speaks during a press conference in Washington, DC.
Day 182 | US to ramp up economic war against Iran
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will step up efforts to isolate Iran economically as he hosts G20 counterparts next week, a US official said Thursday, in a gathering clouded by war and trade tensions.
Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 major economies are due to convene in mountainous Asheville, North Carolina, next Monday and Tuesday.
Their talks are the first of several key ministerial meetings this year, setting the stage for a G20 leaders' summit President Donald Trump will host in December in Florida.
In Asheville, US officials will stress to G20 members the importance of complying with its sanctions on Iran, as it ramps up pressure on Tehran amid war in the Middle East, a Treasury official told reporters.
The official signaled Bessent will make direct appeals to counterparts in bilateral meetings. But they stopped short of sharing who he had scheduled talks with and whether they include China.
The G20 comprises 19 nations plus the European Union and the African Union. It was established in the wake of the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis to boost global economic and financial stability.
But South Africa has been excluded from the G20 under the US presidency this year, while Washington invited Poland to a seat at the table.
Next week, US officials will also push to address concerns like excess industrial capacity, promoting stronger economic growth and building reliable supply chains for critical resources like energy.
Although G20 talks broadened to cover issues like climate change and global health over time, analysts expect Washington to advocate a "back-to-basics" approach this year.
This means a renewed focus on debt, trade, financial stability and banking regulation, Josh Lipsky, chair of international economics at the Atlantic Council think tank, told AFP.
The upcoming gathering, however, comes as US global leadership faces a test.
Worries about US debt levels are growing, while Trump's sweeping tariffs targeting competitors -- and longtime allies like Canada -- have strained ties.
Countries are also grappling with economic fallout after US-‘Israel’ strikes on Iran from February plunged the Middle East into war, causing energy costs to surge.
Bessent has laid out plans to isolate Iran economically, widening secondary sanctions threats and warning of dire consequences for countries that fail to join the campaign.
But doing so will likely require taking on China, the main buyer of Iranian oil -- a difficult task ahead of Trump's expected September summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
With a US-Canada trade war and Bessent warning of sanctions hitting other members around the table, "it just creates the broader feeling of, could this group fracture?" Lipsky said.
"I think that's really the challenge for this meeting," he said.
CENTCOM says helped 1,500 vessels carrying 750 million barrels of oil cross Hormuz
The United States Central Command (CENCTOM) commander Admiral Brad Cooper said Friday that US forces helped 1,500 commercial forces in transiting the Strait of Hormuz over the past several months.
Cooper did not specify the timeframe of his claim.
He also added the ships were carrying “nearly 750 million barrels of crude oil destined for global energy markets,” according to a video statement released on CENTCOM’s social media.
“Iran has exported zero oil from its shores since we resumed the naval blockade in mid-July,” he added.
Update from CENTCOM Commander: pic.twitter.com/osPbltjJ1C
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) August 28, 2026
Cooper also reiterated Trump’s claims that the Strait of Hormuz has been cleared of Iranian mines, a claim which US allies have doubted according to US media reports.
“We have successfully cleared sea mines in the strait's international shipping lanes that were laid months ago by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” he said.
“Internationally recognized transit routes in the strait are free of Iranian sea mines, thanks to the incredible work of the US military.”
“Bottom line, today, international shipping lanes are open, and momentum is building”
Trump says won’t meet Iran who’s “begging to make a deal”
US President Donald Trump said Friday that Iran is “begging to make a deal”, as the Mideast war enters its seventh month.
“Jonathan Hunt of FoxNews did a particularly inaccurate report on the Failing Islamic Republic of Iran. I don’t want to meet, they do. In fact, they are begging to make a deal. Bret Baier should straighten out his flunkies, for a change!” Trump said on Truth Social.
Iran, Qatar hold Hormuz talks as US blockade chokes Iran oil imports
Iran's top diplomat met his Qatari counterpart on Thursday in Tehran for talks on the strategic Strait of Hormuz, as a US naval blockade squeezes oil supplies to Iran amid a domestic shortfall.
The visit by Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani follows a week of intense diplomacy in Iran involving separate meetings with Oman's top diplomat and senior Pakistani officials seeking ways to end the Middle East war and reopen Hormuz.
It also comes as Washington threatens wider secondary sanctions against countries, banks and companies that continue doing business with Iran, part of a broader campaign it has called "economic asphyxiation".
Iranian state television said Al Thani, who is also Qatar's prime minister, had met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, without providing details.
In a statement after the talks, Al Thani said they focused on efforts to de-escalate tensions and boost security in the region.
"Qatar believes that dialogue and diplomacy remain the best way to overcome crises," he wrote on X.
Qatar's foreign ministry said they discussed the proposed framework for Hormuz between Iran and Oman.
"Talks stressed the importance of respecting freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz in accordance with international law," Al Thani added.
Alongside mediator Pakistan, Qatar had played a key role in securing an April ceasefire and June deal between Iran and the United States, but those deals have since collapsed.
Fuel shortage
Since war with the United States broke out on February 28, Iran has maintained tight control over Hormuz, a vital global energy conduit, with Washington imposing a naval counter-blockade on Iranian ports.
On Wednesday, Iran's Vice President Mohammad Jafar Ghaempanah said the blockade had prevented his country from importing enough petrol to cover a shortfall in domestic production.
"Petrol production is insufficient, and because of the US naval blockade, we cannot import it," he was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying.
In recent days, many Iranians have been seen queueing outside petrol stations. Presidential chief of staff Mohsen Haji-Mirzaei said petrol quotas would be reviewed, without elaborating.
Iran, a major oil producer with some of the world's cheapest fuel, has for years heavily subsidised petrol, making changes to pricing politically sensitive.
As the US seeks to strangle Iran's economy, Iranian officials have dismissed the measures as "failed policies" that will not force Tehran to change course.
"The country is in an all-out economic war," said Iran's top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in a statement carried by local media.
"We will see that the government... will defeat the enemy on this ground as well," he added.
Even before the war, Iran's economy was battered by decades of international sanctions, and has long suffered from chronic inflation and a weakening currency.
Talks on Hormuz
Iran has for weeks been in talks with Oman, which also overlooks the Hormuz strait, over a framework agreement that would establish a "temporary corridor" for shipping and provide for clearing mines Tehran says were laid during the war.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Wednesday said the two countries had agreed on each country's share of the waters and any revenues collected from managing the waterway.
Tehran has nonetheless insisted that the strait will not be reopened unless Washington meets its demands, including lifting its naval blockade, unfreezing Iranian assets abroad and removing oil sanctions.
Since the war broke out, Iranian forces have required vessels to obtain permission to transit the waterway and struck ships that failed to comply.
Tehran has also sought to impose service fees on ships using the strait -- a move strongly opposed by Washington and regional countries.
On Thursday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said an "unknown projectile" had struck a tanker in Hormuz this week, causing a fire that was later extinguished.
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