{"id":271685,"date":"2026-08-31T16:02:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T16:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/271685\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T16:02:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T16:02:16","slug":"bessent-huddles-with-g20-to-try-to-rally-allies-on-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/271685\/","title":{"rendered":"Bessent huddles with G20 to try to rally allies on Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"

By FATIMA HUSSEIN<\/p>\n

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) \u2014 Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is meeting with finance ministers of 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<\/a> and an unpopular war on Iran<\/a> that is keeping gas prices high for consumers.<\/p>\n

As Bessent opened meetings of the Group of 20<\/a> finance ministers in Asheville on Monday, he said he wants to focus on ways to grow the global economy and rein in mounting debt. But the event comes after hostilities renewed between the U.S. and Iran<\/a>, and as trade friction with Canada<\/a> spiked following a breakdown in negotiations that led to escalating tariffs.<\/p>\n

Bessent told The Associated Press in an interview on Sunday<\/a> that he plans to turn up pressure on Iran by sanctioning another bank, part of what he is calling \u201cOperation Economic Outcast.\u201d He said the administration is prepared to exact \u201cfinancial violence if we have to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked by reporters Monday how long it would take for the Iranian economy to collapse, Bessent said: \u201cI think it could be within weeks or months \u2014 and the economy doesn\u2019t have to collapse, we just have to have the regime come to their senses.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Treasury<\/p>\n

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Asheville, N.C., Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. (AP Photo\/Gerald Herbert)\n<\/p>\n

\"Poland's<\/p>\n

Poland\u2019s Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski arrives for the G20 Finance Ministerial in Asheville, N.C., Monday, Aug. 31, 2026. (AP Photo\/Gerald Herbert)\n<\/p>\n

\"Poland's<\/p>\n

Poland\u2019s Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski arrives for the G20 Finance Ministerial in Asheville, N.C., Monday, Aug. 31, 2026. (AP Photo\/Gerald Herbert)\n<\/p>\n

\"Treasury<\/p>\n

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Asheville, N.C., Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. (AP Photo\/Gerald Herbert)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 4<\/p>\n

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Asheville, N.C., Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. (AP Photo\/Gerald Herbert)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Bessent said the European Union had backed his sanctions efforts with \u201cfulsome support.\u201d On Sunday, the EU said in a statement it welcomes added economic pressure on Iran and will work with the U.S. and other partners to keep the squeeze on Iran.<\/p>\n

France\u2019s finance minister, Roland Lescure, told reporters he hopes there will be a global statement from the G20 on an agreed-upon path for economic growth worldwide.<\/p>\n

He said the world economy is \u201ca bit like the weather in Asheville \u2014 it\u2019s unpredictable, it\u2019s foggy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under the circumstances, it might be hard to marshal allies<\/p>\n

Daniel Fried, a former assistant secretary of state for European affairs in George W. Bush\u2019s Republican administration, said the U.S. may \u201cfind it difficult to rally its usual friends and allies\u201d under the circumstances.<\/p>\n

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

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

So far, 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\u2019s trading partners. A particular challenge is China, which is the largest buyer of Iranian oil.<\/p>\n

Bessent told the AP that \u201call options are on the table\u201d in terms of sanctioning Beijing for its continued purchases.<\/p>\n

But he rejected the idea that the administration was reluctant to confront China, calling it \u201ca completely false narrative.\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

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

Bessent said Asheville \u2014 which rebuilt after the storm \u2014 was a symbolic backdrop for discussions about economic growth.<\/p>\n

\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

He added that \u201cthe world has this mountain of debt, and we do have to grow our way out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By FATIMA HUSSEIN ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) \u2014 Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is meeting with finance ministers of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271686,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[73304,73948,34,196,2288,74167],"class_list":["post-271685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-iran","tag-g20","tag-g20-summit","tag-iran","tag-iran-war","tag-scott-bessent","tag-us-canada-trade-war"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/117190967264331665","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271685","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=271685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}