Trump turns to economic pain as US bombings fail to sway Iran

The US military campaign against Iran has so far failed to force Tehran to capitulate. The Trump administration is betting once again that suffocating economic pressure will do the job.

Facing a shortfall of necessary munitions and wary of continuing an unpopular war, Trump and his top officials are returning to a familiar playbook with Iran: relying on a steady increase in economic sanctions and a naval blockade to stifle oil exports.

The renewed emphasis on economic pain – it was dubbed “maximum pressure” in Trump’s first term – is a marked reversal for an administration that, only days earlier, had been threatening a stepped-up military campaign after nearly six months of war against Tehran.

While the approach failed to bring about the result US President Donald Trump wanted before 2020, he and his team argue it will this time around.

“Operation Economic Fury, led by Secretary Scott Bessent, is devastating the Iranian economy,” US ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told Fox News on Monday. He said the country would “absorb the bombings” but that Iranians were more afraid of Bessent than Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Trump made a similar comment on Sunday to Axios, saying he is “low-keying it” with Iran. “We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money.” Bessent hit a similar theme weeks before on Fox, saying “the government is causing the people to suffer, and we’re going to keep pressing”.