DUBAI/ASHEVILLE, North Carolina — U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday Washington was likely to announce bank sanctions against Iran this week, stepping up an attempt to "economically asphyxiate" Iran's leadership after six months of conflict. Oil prices rose further after the first exchange of direct attacks since July and reports of two tankers being hit leaving the Strait of Hormuz, the global oil supply waterway that Iran has effectively closed to shipping. Tehran remained defiant, warning that it would prevent oil being exported from the Gulf, despite a threat by U.S. President Donald Trump to hit Iran "hard" in response to the renewed Iranian strikes, and Bessent's warning that Washington was about to impose new sanctions. 'Zero tolerance' "We are probably going to announce a bank sanction this week, and we will announce one the week after. We are speaking to our allies here, who have all come forward, and we have had a great show of support," Bessent said at a G20 finance leaders' meeting in Asheville, North Carolina. He said the U.S. was also looking at targetin