{"id":271160,"date":"2026-08-31T09:13:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T09:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/271160\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T09:13:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T09:13:11","slug":"bessent-heads-to-the-g20-to-rally-allies-on-iran-as-tariffs-strain-ties-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/271160\/","title":{"rendered":"Bessent heads to the G20 to rally allies on Iran as tariffs strain ties"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \">ASHEVILLE, N.C. &#8212; Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wants to rally the world\u2019s largest economies this week at a time when the United States has disrupted the international order with aggressive tariffs on major allies and an unpopular war on Iran is keeping gas prices high for consumers. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">As Bessent hosts meetings of the <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/g20-summit\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Group of 20<\/a> finance ministers in Asheville, North Carolina, on Monday and Tuesday, he intends to put the focus on a range of issues intended to draw uncontroversial support, from economic growth to addressing mounting debt.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">However, the event comes shortly after <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/iran-strait-hormuz-strike-united-states-6b098da673ac3161a266ee459d5eff44\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">hostilities renewed between the U.S. and Iran<\/a>, and as <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-tariff-canada-supreme-court-depression-e5501950e025dbe8df2b7ec662dbe2e4\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">trade friction with Canada<\/a> spiked following a breakdown in negotiations that led to escalating tariffs. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Daniel Fried, a former assistant secretary of state for European affairs in the George W. Bush administration, said the U.S. may &#8220;find it difficult to rally its usual friends and allies\u201d under the circumstances.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">If Bessent and other administration officials want international support, he said, they will need to \u201ctake greater care in consulting with allies and partners than the U.S. has shown in recent months.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Bessent wants other countries to help the U.S. isolate Iran in order to force its capitulation during a war that recently crossed its six-month mark. Although the U.S. struck Iran again on Sunday, the administration has previously signaled its intention to focus on economic pressure rather than military action to achieve its goals. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Bessent <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/bessent-interview-iran-sanctions-bank-68d1bb0817c9f83eaa34e9ec643690fa\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">told The Associated Press on Sunday<\/a> that the Treasury plans to impose sanctions on another bank. He also said the administration is prepared to exact \u201cfinancial violence if we have to.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">So far, <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/donald-trump\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">President Donald Trump<\/a> has not followed through on threats of an \u201ceconomic D-Day\u201d for Iran, instead largely relying on warnings to Iran&#8217;s trading partners. A particular challenge is China, which is the largest buyer of Iranian oil.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Bessent told the AP that \u201call options are on the table\u201d in terms of sanctioning Beijing for its continued purchases.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">But he rejected the idea that the administration was reluctant to confront China, calling it \u201ca completely false narrative that the media picked up on.\u201d He insisted that China and the U.S. agree on the need to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The G20 meetings are taking place in Asheville, which was devastated by Hurricane Helene in September 2024. The natural disaster killed more than 250 people and caused nearly $80 billion in damage from Florida to the Carolinas. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Bessent cites Asheville\u2019s rebuilding as a symbolic backdrop for discussions about economic growth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cWe want the rest of the world to come along with our growth agenda, whether it\u2019s deregulation, the energy independence, and we want to discuss global imbalances, banking regulations, some sovereign debt restructuring for developing countries,\u201d Bessent told the AP.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">He added that &#8220;the world has this mountain of debt, and we do have to grow our way out of it.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ASHEVILLE, N.C. &#8212; Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wants to rally the world\u2019s largest economies this week at a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271161,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[328,2443,73948,197,2444,34,196,81,771,82],"class_list":["post-271160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-iran","tag-business","tag-economic-policy","tag-g20-summit","tag-general-news","tag-government-policy","tag-iran","tag-iran-war","tag-politics","tag-washington-news","tag-world-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/117189358468916281","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}