Scott Bessent outlines 3 ways US-Iran war could end as Tehran weakens

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that United States and Chinese officials agreed to extend their bilateral trade truce known as the “Busan agreement” Wednesday on Fox News.

“We have agreed today that we will extend what we call the Busan agreement, the economic detente between the two countries that was scheduled to end on Nov. 10 that is going to be extended until Jan. 10 to give us more time to see what we can do on the economic front,” Bessent told “Special Report.”

As the United States’ war with Iran nears the seventh-month mark, Bessent is outlining three possible ways the conflict could end while warning that the regime is a “cornered animal.”

Bessent that the conflict could end in three ways: members of the regime turn on one another, the Iranian people revolt or Tehran finally comes to the negotiating table and reaches an agreement.

“One, the regime turns on each other — not impossible,” he told Fox News. “Two, we get some kind of uprising for the Iranian people. They’ve probably killed 50,000 of their own population, so very difficult. And then three, to get the Iranians to, if they want to make a deal, to stick to the deal.”

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The Treasury Department is continuing its sweeping economic pressure campaign against Iran, targeting Iranian assets and financial networks while pressuring foreign governments and businesses to sever economic ties with Tehran — an effort Bessent said the “world has never seen.”

“We have an effort never seen before in terms of constricting and cutting off the financial oxygen to them,” the Treasury chief said. “And I don’t know whether it’s gonna be a week, a month or two months, but they’re going to yell uncle.”

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The Treasury launched Operation Economic Outcast in August. It is an extension of the economic strangulation campaign aimed at further severing Iran’s financial lifelines sustaining the regime and further isolating Tehran from the global financial system.

“We have made it very clear around the world, whether it’s the financiers, the people who are doing business, the people who are supplying the Iranians, we know who you are, you know who you are, and we are going to prosecute and execute your companies and your bank accounts every day and every week,” Bessent warned.

The Treasury chief said he is “not sure” how Iranian officials attending the United Nations General Assembly will return home after imposing hefty restrictions on Iranian airlines.

“External flights from Iran, probably more than 80 or 90% of them, got shut down. I’m not sure how the Iranian representatives at the UN are gonna get home,” he told Fox News.

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Bessent, who dismissed reports suggesting he is Trump’s top pick for AI czar, went on to address his multi-day talks with China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng this week.

The secretary proposed an AI “notification mechanism” between the U.S. and China that would allow the two countries to alert each other about AI-related safety incidents that could pose national security risks.

“They’re very eager to engage with us on AI because… the U.S. is substantially in the lead, China’s behind us,” Bessent said.

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“It’s very important for us to engage on this,” he continued. “I think we are working to define with them what we think the most important or the most perilous risk factors are, whether it’s uncontrolled AI agents, whether it is non-state actors using AI, either for cyber ops or for biologics.”