The White House rolled out a broad sanctions package targeting Iran’s aviation, digital currency, gold, shipping, and technology sectors. Roughly 60 individuals, entities, and vessels accused of propping up Tehran’s economy through illicit commerce and sanctions evasion were named in the package.

The announcement came amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran, with the administration seeking to exert maximum economic pressure on the regime. The sanctions package represents one of the most comprehensive efforts to target Iran’s economic infrastructure since the administration took office, touching virtually every sector the regime relies on to generate revenue and evade existing restrictions.

But Bessent held back the most devastating weapon in the arsenal.

The treasury secretary stopped short of announcing sweeping secondary sanctions against foreign banks and financial institutions doing business with Iran — the move administration officials had signaled was on the table heading into Monday.

This omission did not go unnoticed by sanctions experts and foreign policy analysts who had been anticipating a more aggressive posture. The build-up to Monday’s announcement had suggested the administration was prepared to implement the kind of sweeping financial penalties that would force allied nations and neutral parties alike to make an immediate choice about their relationship with Tehran.

“ECONOMIC ASPHYXIATION” — BESSENT’S STATED GOAL FOR TEHRAN

Instead, Bessent said top administration officials — including President Donald Trump himself — would engage privately with leaders of countries to pressure them into cutting business ties with the regime.

This diplomatic approach marks a deliberate shift in strategy, prioritizing negotiation and bilateral pressure over immediate punitive action. The decision to pursue private engagement reflects a calculation that foreign governments may be more willing to cooperate when given space to adjust their policies without facing public ultimatums or immediate economic consequences.

Economic experts say the rollout looks more like a warning that the real D-Day is still to come.

Secondary sanctions targeting foreign banks would cut off institutions from the U.S. financial system entirely if they continue facilitating Iranian oil sales, weapons procurement, or sanctions evasion. That threat — enforced during Trump’s first term and later relaxed under Biden — brought Iran’s economy to its knees between 2018 and 2020.

The historical precedent is significant. During the previous administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign, Iran’s oil exports plummeted from over two million barrels per day to as low as 200,000 barrels per day at certain points. The Iranian rial lost more than half its value, inflation soared into double digits, and the regime faced mounting domestic unrest over economic conditions. Foreign banks largely abandoned Iranian transactions rather than risk losing access to dollar-denominated trade and U.S. financial markets.

The Biden administration’s subsequent decision to ease enforcement of these secondary sanctions allowed Iran to rebuild its export capacity and economic relationships, particularly with Chinese buyers who became the primary customers for Iranian oil sold outside formal channels.

The Monday package designates Iranian aviation companies, digital asset networks used to dodge financial tracking, gold traders funneling revenue to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and shipping firms moving sanctioned oil across the globe.

These designations target the infrastructure Iran has built to circumvent existing sanctions. The aviation sector has long been used to transport goods and personnel supporting proxy militias throughout the region. Digital currency networks have emerged as a critical tool for Iran to move money without touching the traditional banking system that U.S. sanctions monitor most closely. Gold trading provides a tangible store of value that can cross borders without electronic tracking, while the shipping sector enables the regime to move oil to buyers willing to ignore Western restrictions.

Trump has made clear his administration will not tolerate Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, attacks on U.S. partners, or continued funding of terrorist proxy groups across the Middle East. The question now is whether private diplomatic pressure will work — or whether the administration will pull the trigger on the financial sledgehammer it held in reserve.

Bessent’s approach suggests the White House is giving foreign governments one last chance to comply before imposing sanctions that would force them to choose between doing business with Iran or doing business with the United States.

The calculation appears straightforward: by announcing targeted sanctions while holding back on secondary measures, the administration demonstrates both its seriousness and its willingness to allow space for cooperation. Countries that continue facilitating Iranian sanctions evasion now do so with full knowledge that harsher measures remain available and that the administration has already laid the groundwork for their implementation.

Patriots know how Trump negotiates. He doesn’t lose to bullies.

President Donald Trump announced Monday the meeting will take place in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday.

The request comes after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian claimed earlier Monday that $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets would be released by Qatar — calling it a “great victory for the Iranian people.”

Iran requested the meeting in Doha after a weekend of strikes raised questions about the durability of the 60-day peace framework.

Pezeshkian’s claims remain unconfirmed by the U.S., though the unfreezing of sanctioned assets was mentioned in the memorandum of understanding Washington and Tehran signed June 17.

That interim deal set a 60-day clock for talks aimed at reaching a final peace agreement. The U.S. hopes to resolve decades-long concerns about Iran’s nuclear program and formally end the war launched Feb. 28.

The 14-point memorandum states sanctions on Iran will be lifted as part of a final deal — but that relief is linked to nuclear compliance.

If Tuesday’s meeting occurs, it will come after weekend strikes between the U.S. and Iran that raised serious questions about whether the peace framework can hold.

The regime agreed to open the Strait of Hormuz as part of a recently released “memorandum of understanding” with the White House. Then they reneged. Agreed again. Reneged again. The excuses change, but the pattern is clear — Iran’s word means nothing.

The latest manipulation involves ordering terror proxy Hezbollah to attack Israel from Lebanon, then pointing to Israel’s inevitable response as justification to back out of the deal. The regime claims Israel violated the agreement by defending itself. It’s transparent game-playing designed to exploit the framework Trump signed.

“The very first bullet point of the MOU declares that the U.S. and Iran each assent to an ‘immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.’ This includes each parties’ ‘allies in the current war,’ a phrase that cuts in both directions, and very much includes Hezbollah on Iran’s side.”

Here’s the thing — the mullahs are negotiating from a position of total weakness. Trump’s second-term military campaign has reduced Iran’s major nuclear facilities to rubble. Top nuclear scientists liquidated. A wide swath of regime leaders gone, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The missile stockpile is gutted. Capacity to produce new missiles, decimated. The navy is sunk. Iran’s ability to defend its own airspace has been reduced to virtually zero. Its economy — already disastrous enough to inspire mass protests in the streets of Tehran — is in complete shambles.

The regime is a shadow of what it was when Trump took office. Those are game-changing victories no other president even attempted, let alone delivered. And Iran knows it.

That’s exactly why this latest cheating is so revealing. A regime that won’t operate in good faith on its bare-minimum obligation — opening the strait, even when it’s in their own interest — has just handed Trump the perfect leverage. Hezbollah’s attacks from Lebanon are an explicit violation of the MOU’s very first provision. Iran has given the President a tailor-made justification to dictate terms instead of negotiate them.

Patriots already know how this ends. Trump doesn’t take bad deals. He didn’t with Kim Jong-un. He didn’t with China. He won’t here. The mullahs are about to learn — again — that testing this president comes with consequences they cannot survive.

The Texas Republican told Newsmax the regime will “lie to the president” and do whatever it takes to drag out talks while protecting its nuclear capabilities.

“They’ve got two objectives: one is regime survival, and two is to protect their nuclear program … they will lie to the president. They will do whatever is necessary to keep playing this out.”

Self’s skepticism comes as Trump has repeatedly said the United States is close to securing a deal with Tehran. Iranian officials have publicly disputed those claims, saying significant issues remain unresolved.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee member argued Iran’s long-term strategy hasn’t changed despite ongoing diplomatic discussions reportedly focused on uranium stockpiles, sanctions relief, and regional security arrangements.

Self told Newsmax that preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon remains the central objective of any agreement — but he expressed doubt the regime would honor such commitments.

Many congressional Republicans share Self’s concerns that Iran may exploit negotiations to buy time while preserving key elements of its nuclear program.

The Texas lawmaker also addressed the House rejection of a temporary FISA extension, dismissing concerns about immediate national security risks.

Self, who voted against the extension, said the surveillance authorities will continue operating until March 2027 under existing court orders.

“It will expire by congressional action, but it continues until March of 2027,” Self said. “The FISA court has ordered it by law.”

He pointed to a 2008 precedent when authorities lapsed but intelligence operations continued legally.

“Yes, the congressional authority did,” Self said. “The program will not. We will keep things safe and keep national security moving.”