U.S. to unveil 'greatest financial offensive' against Iran as Tehran threatens ship seizures

The US is set to unveil its greatest financial offensive against Iran. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described it as "the single greatest financial offensive ever marshalled against an adversary" in an opinion piece in the Financial Times. The new economic sanctions, which target Iran's trade partners, are to be announced at a press conference.

Iran has responded by threatening to shut down all oil exports from the Gulf if the economic war continues. The two nations have been in conflict for six months, with thousands of people killed, mostly in Iran and Lebanon. Although there have been no military strikes in recent weeks, there have been no meaningful talks to end the conflict either.

The US and Israel began strikes on February 28, degrading much of Iran's conventional military capacity and inflicting economic pain. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the strikes, according to Investing.com. Iran has preserved enough missile and drone capability to attack its Gulf neighbours and threaten oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

Brief written by urgent.news from CNBC World, Investing.com — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.