US Treasury Secretary Bessent says oil prices will come down, CNBC Interview; says Trump has been saying Iran is not ready to make a deal

Sanctions-maximum-pressure campaigns of this kind have a well-worn sequence: aggressive rhetoric and enforcement actions aimed at a sanctioned exporter, followed by a negotiated outcome once the target's economic position deteriorates, with oil supply losses typically overstated at the outset as grey-market and intermediary channels absorb part of the volume. The Treasury Secretary publicly forecasting lower crude while tightening enforcement is a familiar jawboning pattern from this administration, where energy affordability sits alongside pressure on Iran as twin objectives, a combination that has historically depended on whether other producers or strategic stock policy backfill any lost barrels. The China angle is the crux: past Iran sanctions rounds have turned on Chinese purchases and financial channels, and the claim that enforcement can proceed without Beijing is the contestable premise, making actual enforcement actions against Chinese entities the tell rather than the stated intent. The PBoC meeting reference signals parallel engagement, consistent with prior episodes where sanctions pressure and bilateral financial diplomacy ran simultaneously. What matters next is whether Treasury or State issue designations against buyers, refiners, or insurers, since rhetoric alone has rarely moved prompt crude beyond a session, whereas enforcement against intermediaries has historically tightened effective supply and widened sanctioned-crude discounts. The remark that Iran is not ready to deal sets the stage for escalation before any negotiation, the standard order of operations in pressure campaigns.