Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has warned that Iran’s economy will have “nothing left to trade for anything” in about two weeks after its final oil deliveries. He made the comments on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
Bessent said there are only 15 million more barrels of Iranian oil on the water. He estimated Iran will make its final deliveries of oil to China “probably within the next two weeks.” He argued that Iran is becoming desperate to make a deal due to its collapsing economy, citing Operation Economic Outcast.
The US Memorandum of Understanding with Iran collapsed in July. Since then, the US has implemented a sweeping blockade around Iran, cutting off vessels from entering or leaving the war-torn nation. Bessent announced Operation Economic Outcast last month, targeting foreign countries and companies doing business with Iran.
The Ceasefire Offer
Last week, top Iranian officials proposed a seven-day ceasefire in which Iran would open the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for the US unfreezing roughly $12 billion in frozen assets, lifting the blockade and easing sanctions. President Trump rejected the deal, telling reporters it was not acceptable.
The Strait of Hormuz Today
Bessent said the straits are open and the US is averaging 15 to 22 million barrels a day of oil passing through. Pre-conflict, the average was about 20 million barrels a day. Since early March, the Strait of Hormuz has faced disruptions from Iran’s sporadic attacks against vessels.
The Trump administration claims US military escorts ships through a route close to the shores of Oman.
Bessent’s Assessment
Bessent said Iran is “isolated from the world” and called it a “pariah state.” He added that Iran did not stick to the Memorandum of Understanding. He concluded that “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.”
Where the paper stands
The paper backs none of the parties named in this story — no secretary, no operation, no memorandum — because the story concerns only the state of an economy and the estimate of oil shipments, without any proposal for restoring individual freedom or supporting small business. The paper does not endorse the blockade, the operation, or the warning about Iran’s oil. It reports them as facts of the administration’s position.
What matters here is that the administration has chosen to gather power into one place — Operation Economic Outcast — and to write its own rules around foreign business, cutting off vessels from entering or leaving Iran entirely. The paper is skeptical of such concentrations of power, whether they come from Washington or elsewhere, and it is especially concerned when they are used to punish a nation’s people rather than its rulers.
The rejection of the ceasefire offer — $12 billion in frozen assets, lifting the blockade, easing sanctions — is a clear choice to keep the pressure on. The paper does not take sides in that dispute; it simply notes the administration’s position and the rejection of the deal without endorsing either side.
Key Facts Box
- Final deliveries of oil to China: “probably within the next two weeks”
- Oil on the water: 15 million barrels remaining
- Frozen assets: $12 billion
- Strait of Hormuz flow: 15 to 22 million barrels a day (current); 20 million barrels a day (pre-conflict)
What This Means
Operation Economic Outcast appears designed to isolate Iran completely. With oil deliveries running out and no new deals on the table, Iran’s economy has little room to breathe.
The administration’s stated aim is simple: a future deal must hold because Iran is “on its knees.” Whether that isolation achieves the desired result remains an open question.
The blockade’s scope is sweeping, cutting off vessels from entering or leaving Iran entirely. The US has moved quickly to implement it since the Memorandum of Understanding collapsed in July.
Iran’s proposal to open the Strait of Hormuz and unfreeze the $12 billion in assets was rejected by President Trump. That rejection keeps the pressure on.
The straits remain open, and oil continues to move through them. But the disruptions from Iran’s attacks continue, and the blockade shows no sign of easing.
Bessent’s warning about Iran’s economy running out of oil to trade is a grim assessment of where things stand now.
Source material: “Iran’s economy will have ‘nothing’ left ‘within two weeks,’ Scott Bessent warns,” the New York Post.
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