Pakistan, Sept. 25 -- We are squeezing the Iranians like they have never seen," United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declared while the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly was underway in New York. Claiming that 80 to 90 per cent of Iran's external flights had been shut down, he said he was unsure how the Iranian representatives attending the United Nations would get home.

His remarks came one day after President Donald Trump used the General Assembly podium to threaten that he could "annihilate the Islamic Republic" if no agreement were reached, while calling upon other nations to join the United States in economically isolating Iran.

Placed alongside Operation Economic Outcast-the whole-of-government campaign...