Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says US pressure on Iran under Operation Economic Outcast is working and that Tehran will eventually seek a deal. He made the remarks in a CNBC interview on Friday 13 November.
"It's going to be a long, cold winter for the Iranians"
Bessent said Iran was offered a deal and "probably would have gotten a better deal before the election". He said Trump now does not think a deal is needed and that the US will keep squeezing. He also said Iran did not stick to the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding agreed this summer.
He claimed that on "some nights" more crude is getting through the Strait of Hormuz than before the conflict. This has not been independently checked. It is also hard to square with IRGC and Iranian army accounts of mines and tanker strikes in the strait.
"I think the Iranian currency is going to collapse," Bessent said. He claimed the rial had gone from 600,000 to the dollar to 3 million, which he said meant inflation of about 200%. These figures have not been independently checked.
Bessent also criticised the Wall Street Journal for publishing the location of his house.