New Delhi, Aug. 25 -- WASHINGTON - The Treasury Secretary called it "the greatest coordinated economic isolation in the history of the world." The Iranian foreign minister called it nothing new. Both statements arrived on the same Monday, and the distance between them may be the most accurate measure yet of how the United States expects the economic war on Iran to end.

digital assets, technology, gold, aviation, and shipping. The explicit aim, Bessent said, is to "sever every economic lifeline" that Iran still has access to.

"No one is above the reach of US sanctions," Bessent said. "Around the globe, our objective is to sever every economic lifeline." The language was a direct escalation from earlier rounds, which targeted Iranian oil ...