US-Iran standoff shifts to economic warfare

After six months of inconclusive strikes, Trump and Bessent are escalating secondary sanctions against Iran’s exports, financial networks, and Chinese oil channels while Trump continues to invoke Iran’s nuclear ambitions as the central justification. Tehran remains unwilling to capitulate, and threats involving Kharg Island, renewed retaliation, nuclear deterrence, and severely reduced Hormuz shipping keep escalation risks high despite Washington’s claims that the blockade is working.