U.S. Treasury chief Bessent is rallying G20 allies on Iran as tariffs strain ties

Secretary Scott Bessent opened meetings with the Group of 20 finance ministers in North Carolina on Monday. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is meeting with finance ministers of the world’s largest economies this week at a time when the United States has disrupted the international order with aggressive tariffs on major allies and an unpopular war on Iran that is keeping gas prices high for consumers.As Bessent opened meetings of the Group of 20 finance ministers in Asheville, North Carolina, on Monday, he said he wants to focus on ways to grow the global economy and rein in mounting debt. But the event comes after hostilities renewed between the U.S. and Iran, and as trade friction with Canada spiked following a breakdown in negotiations that led to escalating tariffs.Bessent told The Associated Press in an interview on Sunday that he plans to turn up pressure on Iran by sanctioning another bank, part of what he is calling “Operation Economic Outcast.” He said the administration is prepared to exact “financial violence if we have to.”Asked by reporters Monday how long it would take for the Iranian economy to collapse, Bessent said: “I think it could be within weeks or months—and the economy doesn’t have to collapse; we just have to have the regime come to their senses.”Bessent said the European Union had backed his sanctions efforts with “fulsome support.” On Sunday, the EU said in a statement it welcomes added economic pressure on Iran and will work with the U.S. and other partners to keep the squeeze on Iran.France’s finance minister, Roland Lescure, told reporters he hopes there will be a global statement from the G20 on an agreed-upon path for economic growth worldwide.He said the world economy is “a bit like the weather in Asheville—it’s unpredictable, it’s foggy.”