Live updates: US set to unveil ‘economic D

• Economic pressure: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected to provide details at a news conference Monday after warning in a Financial Times op-ed that an “economic D-Day is coming for Iran,” echoing President Donald Trump’s earlier threats.

• Differing views: There appears to be growing differences within Iran’s leadership on how to handle the conflict with the US. While President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran “cannot continue with war forever,” others have continued to reject dialogue.

• Strait of Hormuz: Iran warned that ships violating transit rules in the strait could face penalties including detention or confiscation. Shipping traffic through the strait has remained low.

• Numb to the pain: Trump is vowing pressure on Iran, but the nation is used to economic pain and has developed sophisticated methods to mitigate sanctions.

The United States is likely to enforce its sanctions on Iran more strictly instead of expanding them, and put pressure on Tehran’s oil ecosystem in its “economic D-Day” measures, a former Treasury official told CNN on Monday.

The US could also target Iran’s oil in order to cut off an economic lifeline, he said.

Beijing buys roughly 90% of Iranian crude exports, according to a fact sheet by a US Congress commission. China doesn’t acknowledge importing Iranian crude in its customs data.

“There will be some pressure on small, medium-sized teapot refineries in China who are purchasing Iranian oil. That will put more pressure on Iran’s revenue generation, and also the banks and exchange houses that allow the Iranian regime to repatriate some of those revenue and get access to foreign currency,” said Maleki.

The Treasury Department has sanctioned such independent Chinese refineries, but in May, Beijing ordered its companies to ignore the restrictions.

Trita Parsi, executive vice president of Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said Iran is not likely to capitulate even with the latest economic measures. The US has been sanctioning Iran since 1979.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is set to unveil details of the economic pressure campaign in a news conference on Monday. In a Financial Times op-ed published a day earlier, he wrote “we are entering the endgame.”

Iran, already drained by years of sanctions and a brutal military onslaught from the United States and Israel, now faces another test as President Donald Trump moves to further tighten the economic screws on the Islamic Republic.

The US is preparing measures, to be revealed at a news conference later on Monday, of what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent promises to be “the toughest sanctions in history” amid deadlock on talks to end the six-month war and as Iran continues inflicting global economic pain by disrupting shipping through the crucial Strait of Hormuz.

By the admission of its own top officials, Iranians are suffering.

“We are apologetic that these problems exist, as we find ourselves in a full-scale economic, military, and security war,” Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said, according to state media.

Read more: Trump is trying to tighten the screws on an Iran numb to economic pain

Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Al-Busaidi will visit Tehran on Tuesday to discuss the Strait of Hormuz and other developments in the region.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei confirmed the upcoming visit and discussions about the vital waterway, the country’s Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported Monday.

Both Iran and Oman have coastlines along the vital strait. The two countries have been in talks on new shipping routes through the waterway.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to attack Oman, a US ally and negotiator in the conflict.

Control over the Strait of Hormuz has become a focal point in the war. Over the past several months, both Iran and the United States have claimed the upper hand.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned in a Financial Times op-ed Sunday that an “economic D-Day is coming for Iran” and threatened countries that do business with Tehran. His warning echoes US President Donald Trump’s economic threat against Iran last week. Bessent is expected to announce details at a news conference on Monday.

The economic effects of the war are reverberating in the US. Gas prices remain high, and a Federal Reserve official said Sunday that the US’s inflation target may remain out of reach until the war ends.

Meanwhile in Iran, officials’ responses to the threats from the US appear to show some differences within its leadership over how to proceed with the war.

Catch up on the news from the weekend:

CNN’s Tim Lister, Aida Karimi, Xiaoqian Lin, Lisa Wong and Auzinea Bacon contributed reporting.

US President Donald Trump’s threat of an “economic D-Day” against Iran is unlikely to bend the country to his will without China joining in. But Trump has little leverage over China to make that happen.

Last week, the American president vowed “tremendous economic consequences” against countries that continue to do business with Tehran. And on Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent doubled down on Trump’s warnings, promising the “single greatest financial offensive ever marshalled against an adversary” in a Financial Times op-ed published a day before he’s expected to unveil details on Washington’s pressure campaign.

That’s unlikely to change now, especially as China sees how unpopular the ongoing conflict has been within the US and abroad, and as Chinese leader Xi Jinping is set to visit the United States next month.

After a tumultuous year of US-China relations triggered by his renewed tariff offensive, Trump has every reason to prevent tensions between the world’s two largest economies from flaring up again. His May visit to Beijing has calmed the waters for now.

In response to Washington’s economic pressure campaign against Iran, Lin Jian, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, said that “sanctions and pressure tactics are not the solution.”

“China calls on parties to act responsibly and stick to the political and diplomatic approach,” he reiterated on Friday.

Trump also possesses increasingly limited economic options he could leverage against China. The US Treasury Department has sanctioned independent Chinese refineries that have been importing Iranian crude, but in May, Beijing ordered its companies to ignore those restrictions.

Any major US moves against China could also risk provoking countermeasures from Beijing. China holds a trump card in rare earths — critical minerals necessary for making many items, from smartphones to electric vehicles and fighter jets. With China processing about 90% of the world’s supply, Trump must tread carefully while Western nations attempt to build alternative supply chains.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned in an op-ed Sunday that an “economic D-Day is coming for Iran” and threatened countries that do business with Tehran but gave little detail.

“Now we are entering the endgame. At dawn begins an economic D-Day — the single greatest financial offensive ever marshalled against an adversary,” he wrote in a Financial Times op-ed, a day ahead of a planned news conference.

CNN has reached out to the Treasury Department to ask for more details. Bessent is set to hold a news conference Monday at 1 p.m.

The secretary’s op-ed echoes remarks by President Donald Trump, who last week also threatened an “economic D-Day” against Iran, vowing to impose “tremendous economic consequences” on countries that do business with Tehran. The US is seeking to ratchet up the economic pressure to get Tehran to return to the negotiating table.

“Iran’s enablers purchase and transport its petroleum,” Bessent wrote in the Financial Times, adding, “They turn a blind eye to seaborne fuel transfers and the illicit use of their banks, all while concealing the extent of their complicity.”

“In short, these countries calculate appeasement of the regime to be the safer course. But they would do well to consider the consequences of sustaining it,” he wrote.

Bessent also warned that if Iran responded militarily to economic action by the United States, Trump would “respond swiftly and decisively.”

This post has been updated to indicate the revised timing for Bessent’s press conference.

Iran warned on Sunday that vessels accused of violating its transit rules in the Strait of Hormuz could face penalties including detention or confiscation, signaling potential risks for shipping through one of the world’s most strategically important waterways.

In a series of posts on X, Iran’s state-controlled Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) said vessels that violate what it described as Iranian arrangements governing transit through the Strait of Hormuz could face “fines, seizure, or confiscation” during future passages.

The authority urged cargo owners shipping to or from the Persian Gulf to review what it called a “Non-Compliant Vessels” list before chartering ships in order to avoid potential issues.

There seems to be growing debate within the Iranian leadership on how to handle the conflict with the United States, with some implying Tehran should now negotiate from a position of strength before its economic crisis worsens, while hardliners in the security apparatus continuing to reject dialogue.

A recap of what Iranian officials have said recently:

Iran “cannot continue with war forever,” Pezeshkian said on Sunday. He defended the memorandum of understanding that Iran reached with the US in June, despite the purported misgivings of Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.

The Iranian president has also frequently warned of the economic and social consequences of the conflict.

Rezaei vowed to “neutralize the economic war.” He also threatened to shut down all shipping traffic if any of Iran’s neighboring countries enter US President Donald Trump’s economic war.

Baghaei pushed back on Trump’s threat last week of an “economic D-Day,” calling it “a recipe for an abysmal return to full-scale classic colonialism.”

The Iranian Foreign Ministry warned that those who order or implement the levies “are liable to prosecution and punishment,” reported state media IRIB.

Taeb said Trump’s current rhetoric stems from “desperation” as he vowed Tehran “will not submit” to the US, Iranian semi-official media reported on Saturday.

Taeb also said Iran would not reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz unless “our conditions are fulfilled.”

CNN’s Aida Karimi, Tim Lister, Billy Stockwell, Valey Arya and Laura Sharman contributed reporting.