Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo analyzes Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent launching 'Operation Economic Outcast' against Iran. Pompeo discusses the powerful impact of sanctions and argues that the era of funneling money to Iran is over. The economic offensive aims to achieve complete global isolation by holding Iran's partners accountable under strict U.S. sanctions.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s Monday announcement that America will impose the economic equivalent of the military campaign that defeated Nazi Germany on the Islamic Republic of Iran could set off a series of events leading to the dissolution of the nearly 47-year-old dictatorship in Tehran, according to Iran experts.
Bessent’s declaration of economic warfare follows President Donald Trump’s commitment last week to launch an "economic D-Day" against the Tehran regime. The comprehensive U.S. economic pressure point campaign targeting Iran’s already troubled economy could have dramatic effects on the restive population in the country of over 90 million people.
"In the Second World War, D-Day marked the historic beginning of a campaign with our allies to target and drive the enemy from its positions, including those in third countries. Today, in that same spirit, we are launching an economic onslaught against Iran's financial connections around the globe," said Bessent. He added, "Our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains this tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone. Iran's fanatics devote themselves to death to America and seek nuclear weapons to do just that. They have murdered and maimed more of our citizens and service members than any other terrorist regime on Earth."
TRUMP THREATENS 'UNPRECEDENTED' ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES FOR ANY NATION AIDING IRAN
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks at a news conference, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026, at the Treasury Department in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Just hours before Bessent spoke, Iran’s currency, the rial, plunged to an all-time low. The rial fell to 2.02 million to the U.S. dollar. Iranians are struggling to afford basic goods.
Jonathan Harounoff, an Iran expert and British author of Persian heritage, told Fox News Digital that "Ultimately, this pressure campaign will likely continue to cripple the regime and set the stage for perhaps yet another domestic uprising. The precise timing of such a revolt is impossible to predict."
Harounoff, who has written extensively on upheavals in Iran against the clerical leadership, added, "What isn't impossible to predict is that the regime is governing brutishly over a repressed population that has endured sustained economic and social immiseration. It's only a matter of time before more protests break out, and the real question is whether international organizations like the U.N. and Western governments will choose to stand by — or tangibly support the Iranian people and actively sever any cooperation they maintain with the regime."
LEAKED IRAN REPORT FINDS RECORD PUBLIC ANGER AS REGIME FOCUSES ON HOLDING POWER
Iranians gather while blocking a street during a protest in Kermanshah, Iran on Jan. 8, 2026. (Kamran/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
He warned that, "Too often, outsiders speak of regime change as if it were a passive exercise. Certainly, only the people of Iran can bring about organic, homegrown, transformational change — and they have 47 years of turmoil and repression driving them toward it. But there are real ways to support the Iranian people (Starlink, supporting think tanks and foundations, raising awareness of the plight of Iranians, etc.) and help them achieve what has, until now, been a quixotic dream."
Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), told Fox News Digital, "The question is often asked: what makes this iteration of the maximum pressure campaign different from all other iterations? The answer is this iteration is taking place against a backdrop where there is a synchronization of economic and military pressure against the Iranian regime — a combination which has never been deployed by a U.S. administration until now. The U.S. naval blockade currently in place against Tehran is unprecedented. The Iranian regime's industrial base — for example, steel plants — has also been damaged following kinetic strikes. The Iranian regime’s military capacity has likewise been degraded."
IRAN ACCELERATES EXECUTION CAMPAIGN AGAINST ANTI-REGIME ACTIVISTS AMID INTERNET CENSORSHIP
Buses that were burned during Iran's protests, in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 21, 2026. (Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)
