As Iran-US peace talks hang in balance, treasury secretary Scott Bessent has predicted that Iran will not have anything left to trade as it is set to complete its remaining oil shipments to China within two weeks. This grim forecast came as the Trump administration carries out an intensive campaign to build economic pressure on the regime.

US President Donald Trump and Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent participate in a meeting on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, on September 22, 2026. (AFP/File)

Bessent claimed Iran's shipments have been successfully blocked by the US and the West Asian nation's last batch of about 15 million barrels of oil is out for delivery. Once this is delivered, Iran's trade would come to a stop as the US is blockading the ports under ‘Operation Economic Outcast’, which is meant to economically isolate Tehran.

"They will have nothing to trade for anything, probably within the next two weeks. They are going to make their final deliveries of oil to China, and then they will have nothing," Fox News quoted him as saying.

Iran had offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global energy shipments. Bessent, however, said the strait was already effectively open, with oil flows averaging between 15 million and 22 million barrels a day. Before the conflict, around 20 million barrels a day passed through the waterway, he said.

Bessent added that the objective of the US ‘Operation Economic Outcast’ was to ensure that Iran complies with the terms of any potential future agreement.

The official IRNA news agency, citing a source close to the Iranian delegation, said, “Iran’s delegation in New York has no plans for negotiations with the United States.” It said Tehran’s position had been conveyed to Washington through a Qatari mediator and that the delegation was due to return to Iran on Tuesday.

Iran has said it presented seven conditions for ending the conflict and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of global oil and gas supplies passed before the war.

The conflict began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February. Tehran subsequently restricted shipping through the strait, prompting Washington to impose a blockade on Iranian ports.

According to Axios, indirect talks mediated by Qatar could take place as early as Monday, following discussions last week between US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Among Tehran’s demands are a seven-day ceasefire across the Middle East, including Lebanon, the unfreezing of Iranian assets, the lifting of sanctions on its oil sector, and an end to the US naval blockade.