Live updates from the G20 financial meeting: Bessent and Warsh speak

Bessent predicted that Iran’s economy could collapse in as little as a few weeks, but insisted that was not a precondition for a breakthrough in relations with Iran.

Asked how long it would take for Iran’s economy to deteriorate, Bessent said at a press conference: “We have a blockade and we’re going to keep the pressure on. We’re already having very good discussions here.”

“It could be within weeks or months,” he said, but added: “The economy doesn’t have to collapse. We just have to get the regime back to its senses.”

—Kevin Breuninger

Upon arriving at the G20 meeting, Bessent thanked the European Union for its “very generous support for the economic expulsion operation.”

Bessent said “they have made it clear today that they support in the strongest terms” the plan, which aims to strangle Iran’s economy by targeting international “enablers” with secondary sanctions.

“We welcome efforts to ensure that Iran ceases its destabilizing activities and engages in peace negotiations in good faith,” the European Commission said in an evening statement.

The committee said it supports efforts to achieve that goal “through additional economic pressure, such as the U.S.-led Operation Economic Outcast.”

“The EU will continue to work closely with the United States, other G7 countries and international partners to maintain pressure on Iran and contribute to de-escalation and regional stability,” the statement said.

—Kevin Breuninger

Bessent said Iran takes the threat of increased U.S. sanctions “very seriously.”

Recent rhetoric and military aggression by Iranian leaders shows they are “shocked by the state of the economy,” the Treasury chief told reporters before heading to the G20 meeting.

“I think they’re attacking it athletically because they’re losing out economically,” he says.

— Kevin Breuninger

The Treasury Department has blocked some reporters from the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg from attending a conference in Asheville and banned them from three of the nation’s largest and most influential newsrooms.

The Treasury Department’s refusal to certify reporters is the latest example of the Trump administration blocking access to the press. Last year, the Pentagon imposed strict new media policies that forced nearly all news organizations to leave the building without signing agreements to abide by policies that limit what they can publish. Some news organizations excluded from the G20 said the move was aimed at evading public scrutiny.

Nearly 300 members of the media, including a Times reporter, will have high-level access to policymakers during the event, a Treasury spokesperson said in a statement.

“News coverage should be focused on informing and educating the American people, not on clicks, engagement and sensationalism,” the spokesperson said.

— Garrett Downs

Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh is scheduled to appear in Asheville, fresh off speaking at a central bank symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, last week.

Fed leaders are expected to make welcome remarks at several meetings, but there is no indication they will comment on policy.

In a speech last week, Warsh suggested that interest rates may need to rise if there is no further progress in bringing inflation back to the Fed’s 2% target.

—Jeff Cox