Bessent says US ‘will not allow Iran to hold global commerce hostage’

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the Iranian regime is “desperate for cash” as its economy spirals and inflation reaches triple digits, following his office’s announcement of new sanctions on the country.

“The United States will not allow Iran to hold global commerce hostage or use international shipping to finance the IRGC’s terrorism, aggression, and repression,” he wrote on X.

Earlier, the Treasury Department said it had imposed sanctions on two firms it described as integral to an IRGC-backed extortion scheme that forces commercial vessels to purchase mandatory maritime “insurance” to transit the Strait of Hormuz.

-Al Jazeera