Even-more-maximum pressure: sanctions on Iran

The United States Treasury has launched what it calls "Operation Economic Outcast," an unprecedented financial offensive against Iran. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had been building up to the announcement for days, describing it as an "Economic D-Day" and "the single greatest financial offensive ever marshaled against an adversary." But when the details emerged, the actual measures appeared far less dramatic than the rhetoric, targeting smaller entities rather than major financial institutions. The episode examines why the strategy may struggle to achieve its aims, alongside segments on how AI is reshaping the Philippines' offshoring industry and what determines wage differences between cities.

The limits of maximum pressure

Iran has been under American sanctions since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, giving it decades of experience circumventing restrictions and developing domestic production capacity for goods it otherwise would have imported. The new campaign represents an attempt to revive and intensify the "maximum pressure" strategy from the first Trump administration, this time combined with a naval blockade already reducing Iran's oil exports.