US Treasury chief Scott Bessent has said the United States will impose “the toughest sanctions in history” on Iran, a move he suggested would lessen the need for new major military operations, Reuters reports.

“I’m not sure why oil has popped up on this,” Bessent told CNBC. “If we are doing the maximum economic pressure, then that means that likely there will not be a large-scale kinetic restart,” he said, using a term referring to military force.

Bessent told CNBC he would share more details on the latest package and “talk about exactly what we’re going to do” on Iran at a press conference on Monday.

“It is a one-two punch. We have the blockade (on Iran), and we are going to have the toughest sanctions in history,” he added, referring to a US naval blockade imposed on Iran in April and paused for a month in mid-June.

“It is going to work in Iran and we are going to collapse this regime. It is time for our allies and the rest of the world to make a decision,” he said.

When asked if the United States could target China for doing business with Iran, Bessent said many conversations were best to have in private.

“Keep in mind that the Chinese get 50 per cent (of their) energy… from the Gulf. So it would do them a big service to get with the program,” he said.