Scott Bessent faces challenges at G20 over Iran sanctions and US debt

Scott Bessent has a busy weekend ahead. The US Treasury Secretary is set to host G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Asheville, North Carolina, from August 31 to September 1, with an agenda that reads like a stress test for the global financial order: rally allies behind aggressive Iran sanctions, cool down bond markets rattled by ballooning US debt, and somehow convince countries already irritated by American tariffs to fall in line on trade rebalancing. Operation Economic Outcast meets global resistance The centerpiece of Bessent’s G20 pitch is compliance with Washington’s latest Iran sanctions campaign, dubbed “Operation Economic Outcast.” Launched on August 24, the initiative targets nearly 60 Iranian-related entities across five sectors, including technology and aviation, aiming to choke off revenue streams funding Tehran’s activities. The message to G20 members is blunt: sever economic ties with Iran or risk secondary sanctions that would effectively lock you out of the dollar-based financial system. The sanctions push arrives in a diplomatic environment where several G20 members have their own grievances with Washington. China and Russia have different priori...