Brent crude futures ended last week near $88.50 a barrel as traders awaited details of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's planned escalation campaign of the economic war against Iran.
Bessent said Friday that Washington would announce unprecedented economic-isolation measures next week, warning that the coming pressure campaign would be unlike anything "seen in the history of economic isolation on a country."
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced upcoming unprecedented economic measures against Iran amid ongoing blockades of its ports pic.twitter.com/OV3etgd2k0
— Chay Bowes (@BowesChay) August 14, 2026
For clarity on Bessent's upcoming economic-isolation operation against Iran, Derek Holt, head of Capital Markets Economics at Scotiabank in Toronto, provided clients with an assessment in which Bessent's warning could signal a move well beyond sanctioning shadow tankers and refiners, toward dismantling the entire financial network supporting Iranian oil exports.
Holt explained:
WHAT COULD BESSENT MEAN?
What could Bessent do to economically isolate Iran further that has "never
