More Economic Pressure on Iran: What Options Does Trump Have?

What happened

President Donald Trump pledged strong new economic measures against Iran after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said unprecedented sanctions would be announced soon. Bessent was scheduled to hold a press conference at 2 p.m. EDT on Monday to outline the details.

Since Trump began his second term, the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control has sanctioned more than 1,000 individuals, vessels, and aircraft. The most recent sanctions have targeted Iran's hidden oil fleet, shipping insurers, and entities facilitating Iran's weapons acquisition and use of digital currency exchanges, resulting in the freezing of approximately $500 billion in Iran-linked cryptocurrency.

The United States, the United Nations, and the European Union have imposed sanctions and trade embargoes on Iran since the late 1970s over its nuclear program, human rights record, and support for militant groups. Since the war in Iran began in February, Washington has intensified maritime, energy, and financial sanctions, including a naval blockade, and oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz have been nearly halted, with Iran threatening to target unauthorized oil tankers.

Options under consideration

• Sanctioning smaller Chinese "teapot" refineries that account for a significant share of China's refinery capacity and purchase a large proportion of Iranian oil, since larger Chinese refiners have already been deterred
• Sanctioning Chinese banks accused of processing Iranian oil payments and funding weapons procurement, a step the Treasury has warned some banks about but not yet taken
• Continuing to target Iranian individuals and entities that help evade existing sanctions, a pattern analysts call "whack-a-mole" since new entities replace sanctioned ones
• Further restrictions affecting aviation and trade
• A potential land blockade with cooperation from Iran's neighboring countries, which analysts say would be logistically complex and of uncertain effect on public unrest
• Tariffs on countries that continue trading with Iran, a path complicated by legal challenges and dependent on a Senate bill still awaiting House approval

Industry impact & what to watch

This case extends a pattern already visible in the sanctions record: more than 1,000 designations against individuals, vessels and aircraft since the start of Trump's second term, layered on top of decades of U.S., UN and EU measures against Iran. Each new tool, whether aimed at shipping insurers, cryptocurrency exchanges or refiners, narrows the channels available to move Iranian oil, cargo or payments without tripping a secondary-sanctions exposure.

How far this reaches depends on which of the options under discussion Bessent confirms. Sanctioning Chinese teapot refineries or banks would pull a new tier of counterparties into scope, while a land blockade or new aviation and trade restrictions would add friction to routes and permits well beyond Iran's own borders, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz where tanker traffic has already nearly stopped.

The Monday press conference is the next concrete marker: whether Bessent names specific refineries, banks or a blockade mechanism will show whether Washington is moving from threat to designation, and whether Beijing's calculus on retaliation shifts as a result.