U.S. Inflation and Energy Prices

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other administration officials recently announced plans to sharply expand U.S. secondary sanctions on Iran, publicly framing the measures as a "financial equivalent" of a bombing campaign if ceasefire talks fail. The Treasury has sent formal warnings to banks in China, Hong Kong, the UAE and Oman and says two Chinese banks have already been warned, part of a broader push aimed at choking off Tehran's ability to pay domestic loyalists and key economic actors. Officials say targets could include Iran's powerful bonyads — charitable trusts that control more than 30 percent of the Iranian economy — and that Gulf neighbors are now more willing to freeze Iranian assets because of wartime behavior. The move comes as President Trump prepares diplomatic travel and as the administration seeks to use economic pressure in lieu of wider military strikes.