Iran sanctions: US to press G20 finance ministers

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will press G20 finance ministers and central bank governors to comply with US sanctions on Iran when they meet next week in Asheville, North Carolina, a US official said.

The Group of 20 finance talks are scheduled for August 31 and September 1. They will be the first of several ministerial meetings before a G20 leaders' summit that US President Donald Trump is due to host in Florida in December.

A Treasury official said US officials would stress the importance of sanctions compliance as Washington increases economic pressure on Tehran during the Middle East war. The official said Bessent would make direct appeals in bilateral meetings, but did not say which counterparts he would meet or whether they include China.

US officials also plan to raise excess industrial capacity, stronger economic growth and supply chains for critical resources such as energy.

The G20 includes 19 nations plus the European Union and the African Union. Under the US presidency this year, South Africa has been excluded, while Washington has invited Poland to take part.

Josh Lipsky, chair of international economics at the Atlantic Council, told AFP that Washington was expected to push a “back-to-basics” G20 agenda focused on debt, trade, financial stability and banking regulation.

The meeting comes amid tensions over the Iran war and US trade policy. AFP reported that energy costs have surged since US-Israel strikes on Iran from February pushed the Middle East into war. Trump's tariffs on competitors and allies, including Canada, have also strained relations.

Bessent has previously outlined plans to isolate Iran economically, including widening threats of secondary sanctions. AFP reported that pursuing that policy would likely require confronting China, the main buyer of Iranian oil, before an expected September summit between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.