‘No more Mr Nice Guy’: Trump warns Iran to ‘get smart’ over stalled talks

In a post on X late on Tuesday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said his department has “targeted Iran’s international shadow banking infrastructure, access to crypto, shadow fleet, and weapons procurement networks”.

Last week, the Treasury sanctioned an independent Chinese oil refinery for buying hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Iranian oil, along with 40 shipping firms and vessels alleged to be operating as part of Iran’s shadow fleet.

Bessent claimed such actions “have disrupted tens of billions of dollars in revenue” and had helped to “rapidly” depreciate Iranian currency.

On Wednesday, the Iranian rial dropped to a new record low against the US dollar, losing about 6 percent of its value since the war began.

According to currency-tracking websites Bonbast and AlanChand, the rial was trading at about 1.8 million rials against the dollar on the black market.

When the war began at the end of February, the dollar traded at about 1.7 million rials.

Iran executes, jails protesters

As talks stall, Iranian authorities have stepped up efforts to prosecute protesters and dissidents.

United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk said on Wednesday that at least 21 people have been executed and more than 4,000 arrested since the start of the war on Iran.

Nine people were executed in relation to Iran’s mass January protests, 10 for alleged membership in opposition groups and two on espionage charges, the office said.

“I am appalled that – on top of the already severe impacts of the conflict – the rights of the Iranian people continue to be stripped from them by the authorities, in harsh and brutal ways,” Turk said.

According to the UN, many of the 4,000 people arrested have disappeared, been tortured, or subjected to other forms of illegal punishment.

Iran’s newly enhanced espionage law allows authorities to execute and seize the property of people accused of a wide range of activities related to “hostile states and groups”.