Last week Mr Trump called the effort “economic D-Day”. On August 24th Scott Bessent , America’s treasury secretary, revealed the details. WHEN DONALD TRUMP began Operation Epic Fury nearly six months ago, he hoped that America’s military might would crush Iran’s regime. When its bombs failed, he bet on sweeteners. In June America offered Iran sanctions relief and billions of dollars in investment in the hope the country’s leaders would open the Strait of Hormuz and renounce any nuclear ambitions. That approach failed, too. Now America is trying to break the regime by smashing Iran economically.
On August 20th the head of Iran’s central bank said they had “fallen to zero”. A trade-intelligence firm, Iran still has some 80m barrels of oil on board ships outside the strait, according to Kpler. Mr Bessent said he wished that soldiers would lay down their arms once they stopped getting paid, leading to the collapse of the regime. China has warned that the new sanctions risk damaging global growth and financial stability, and vowed to protect its “legitimate rights and interests”. “If you start to target Chinese companies, it’s no longer an Iran issue,” argues Esfandyar Batmanghelidj of Bourse and Bazaar, a think-tank in London. “It’s a matter for your China policy.”
Meanwhile, America’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has caused Iran’s oil exports—the regime’s main source of income—to collapse. But that would only provide a fraction of its usual income from such exports. The Trump administration hopes that Iran’s economic woes will create an opportunity. Others, however, will be reluctant to work with America. But the administration may be reluctant to go much further for fear of retaliation or undermining Mr Trump’s diplomatic outreach to China.
America has previously targeted Chinese firms involved in Iran’s oil trade: in April it imposed sanctions on Hengli, a refiner that American officials accused of buying billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian crude.
