US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent tells Beijing to ‘get with the programme’ and support Washington’s campaign to isolate Iran economically
3-MIN READ3-MIN ListenNayan Sethin WashingtonPublished: 2:53am, 21 Aug 2026US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday urged China to join Washington’s latest efforts to economically pressure and isolate Iran after negotiations to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the six-month conflict collapsed.“Keep in mind, the Chinese get 50 per cent of their energy from the Gulf. So, it would do them a big service to get with the programme,” Bessent told CNBC when asked whether the new economic sanctions would include China.
00:59Trump thanks China’s Xi, Russia’s Putin for being ‘neutral’ in Iran war“This is going to be the greatest coordinated economic isolation in the history of the world. And we are going to them and saying you are either with us or against us,” he said.
