US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Iran has roughly 30 million barrels of crude oil remaining that China has not yet purchased, and that this stockpile will soon run out under intense American pressure.

“There’s probably only about 30 million barrels of Iranian crude oil left that China hasn’t bought. So that will run out soon, and there will be no problem with China buying because they have no product.”

— Scott Bessent, US Treasury Secretary, in a Fox News interview

The comments come amid the Trump administration’s “Operation Economic Outcast,” launched in late August 2026, which combines a naval blockade near the Strait of Hormuz with secondary sanctions aimed at cutting off Iran’s remaining revenue streams. Chinese imports of Iranian crude have already dropped sharply — falling to an estimated 534,000 barrels per day in August from peaks of around 1.58 million bpd earlier in the year.

Bessent portrayed the dwindling floating stockpile as evidence that the dual pressure of the blockade and sanctions is working, arguing it will soon eliminate China’s ability to buy Iranian oil and further isolate Tehran’s economy. He described the strategy as creating a “death spiral” for the Iranian regime and pushing it back toward negotiations.