Scott Bessent takes a podium at 1 p.m. Monday to sever Iran from the world economy. The Treasury Secretary calls it "the single greatest financial offensive ever marshalled against an adversary." In a Financial Times op-ed Sunday he wrote that the war is "entering the endgame" and set the target: "sever every economic lifeline that sustains the tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone." Donald Trump reached for the same phrase — economic D-Day — last week. Bessent warned Trump would "respond swiftly and decisively" to any Iranian military answer.
Bessent has damage to point at. The rial slid past two million to the dollar on the open market. Food inflation runs above 100%. The IMF expects Iran's economy to contract more than 5% this year.
None of which touches the strait.
Hassan Qashqavi got there first. On Sunday afternoon the spokesman for parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission said his commission had approved Article 3 of the Strategic Action Plan to Ensure Security and Progress in the Strait of Hormuz — the article that prices passage. The same members had rejected that article a meeting earlier. They reversed themselves hours before Bessent's announcement.
"A fee will be charged for services including maritime services, environmental services, fueling in special conditions, insurance, safety, and other services that we provide," Qashqavi said. Authorized ships pay "in rials or any other currency desired by the Islamic Republic of Iran."
