PARIS — U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday urged allies to sanction Iran as peace talks between the two countries continue to stall.
“We call on all the G7 and on all of our allies and the rest of the world to follow the sanctions regimes so that we can crack down on the illicit financing that is fuelling the Iranian war machine and get this money back to the Iranian people,” Bessent said as he entered a meeting of G7 finance ministers in Paris.
Finance ministers and central bank governors are gathering in the French capital for two days of meetings focused on macroeconomic imbalances and securing access to critical minerals. They will also discuss economic crime, sanctions on Russia and the impact of the war in the Middle East on their economies.
Iran sanctions — which are in place in various forms across the G7 countries — are not on the official agenda of this week’s meetings.
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iran that the “clock is ticking” as talks to end the war in the Middle East stall. “They better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Bessent is in Paris following what he called “a very successful visit” to Beijing, during which Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spent “a great deal of time together,” he said.
Separately, the French G7 presidency will hold a “No Money For Terror” conference on Tuesday with finance ministers from over 50 countries across the world. The gathering will discuss how to boost international cooperation in the fight against financing terrorism, including cryptoassets.
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