The Treasury Secretary is promising to cut off every country that still trades with Iran, which is bad news for oil prices, inflation, and anyone hoping the Fed cuts rates soon.

• Scott Bessent published an op-ed warning that nations doing business with Iran will be treated as global outcasts, with a press conference to follow.
• The real targets are China, Turkey, Brazil, India, and Gulf states — China alone supplies about 40% of Iran's imports.
• The threat reads as an admission that Washington has run out of military options and is falling back on money as the weapon.
• Fed official Neel Kashkari says the Iran conflict is now a major driver of inflation because energy feeds into everything, and he wants rates raised, not cut.
• Trump wants cheaper borrowing, but his own trade fights and this war keep pushing prices up — the opposite of what he needs.

Outlook: Expect a jittery week at the Fed's Jackson Hole meeting, with higher gas prices and rate-hike talk if the sanctions push actually lands.