which began in the spring of 2025. This was announced by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on the Fox News program "Kudlow."

As Bessent reported, President Donald Trump ordered a campaign of maximum economic pressure against Iran a year ago, in March of last year. The goal of this operation was to undermine Tehran's financial position by confiscating Iranian assets, freezing bank accounts, and pressuring foreign governments to sever ties with the Islamic Republic.

Bessent stated that it was this campaign that led to economic stagnation in Iran in December 2025, the collapse of the country's largest bank, protests, and rising inflation. The Treasury Secretary noted that the Iranian currency had depreciated by approximately 60-70% against the US dollar.

"We're freezing bank accounts everywhere." "More importantly, we are reducing people's willingness to deal with the regime," Bessent said. "We see the pressure on the regime increasing every day." Bessent added that the Treasury Department is holding the confiscated assets, including $500 million in cryptocurrency, "for the people of Iran."

Since February 4, 2026, when President Donald Trump signed National Security Memorandum NSPM-2, which reinstated the "maximum pressure" policy against Iran, the US has imposed sanctions on five Chinese refineries purchasing Iranian oil. Bessent, following the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), emphasized that foreign banks and companies could be subject to secondary sanctions for conducting transactions with entities purchasing Iranian oil.

Washington's sanctions against Tehran have been in place since 1979. Since then, the US has likely confiscated Iranian assets worth over $100 billion, according to Al Jazeera. As part of the conflict resolution talks, the US and Iran are discussing the release of some of Tehran's assets in exchange for the Islamic Republic giving up enriched uranium.