Reading time: 2 min
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has outlined an aggressive economic strategy targeting Iran, declaring the Trump administration’s goal as “Making Iran Broke Again” during a March 2025 speech to the New York Economic Club. The blunt policy statement represents a significant escalation in Washington’s approach toward the Islamic Republic, with Bessent warning that Tehran “will have neither” economic nor national security.
Devastating Economic Impact Unfolds
The numbers paint a stark picture of Iran’s economic decline under sustained US pressure. According to World Bank data, Iran’s GDP per capita has plummeted from $8,000 in 2012 to just $5,000 in 2024 – a staggering 40% decline that reflects the cumulative impact of multiple sanctions regimes. The International Monetary Fund documented particularly severe contractions during Trump’s first “maximum pressure” campaign, with Iran’s economy shrinking six percent in 2018 and nearly seven percent in 2019 following the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal.
A 2020 analysis by the Center for a New American Security demonstrated a direct correlation between expanding US designation lists and Iran’s contracting GDP. The economic pressure has intensified under the current administration, with 2025 seeing more sanctions targeting evasion networks than any year between 2017 and 2024, including the initial reimposition year of 2018.
Sanctions Strategy Questioned by Former Officials
Richard Nephew, who served as principal deputy coordinator for sanctions policy at the State Department from 2013-2015, challenged the effectiveness of the “broke Iran” approach. Speaking to Middle East Eye, Nephew argued that while previous sanctions aimed to secure nuclear, regional proxy, and missile concessions, the current strategy may be flawed. “The idea that if Iran is broke, Iran will not be able to pursue the nuclear programme… that’s I think empirically false,” he stated, noting that Iran has already made substantial monetary investments in its nuclear infrastructure.
Social Unrest Emerges From Economic Pressure
The economic deterioration has sparked domestic unrest, with mass protests erupting in late December following a local bank collapse. The Treasury Department responded by sanctioning six additional Iranians on Friday, including Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni Kalagari, whom officials accused of overseeing “murderous Law Enforcement Forces” responsible for protester deaths. US sanctions on Iran stretch back nearly five decades to the 1979 revolution, but the current approach represents the most comprehensive economic pressure campaign to date.
Regional Implications Intensify
The Trump administration’s 2025 National Security Strategy formally designated Iran as the “chief destabilising force” globally, providing the framework for expanded economic warfare. As regional tensions continue escalating, the success or failure of this economic pressure strategy will likely influence broader Middle Eastern stability and Washington’s approach to other regional actors.
