Scott Bessent’s attempt to ringfence Iran financially and economically will test the United States’ ability to impose its will and Iran’s capability to puncture the Treasury Secretary’s proposed iron wall.

Mr. Bessent’s effort will also test the Trump administration’s belief that economic pressure and hardship will spark a popular revolt in Iran that would topple the Iranian regime.

With almost five decades of expanding sanctions on Iran that have failed to force Iran to submit to American demands, Mr. Bessent is focusing this time on Iran’s trading partners in a bid to cut off Iranian escape routes and circumvention.

It’s early days, and the jury is still out, but initial indications suggest that Mr. Bessent’s campaign of “economic asphyxiation” may produce mixed results, at best.

As the United States seeks to strangulate Iran economically, the question is whether the policy, with the US naval blockade of Iranian ports at its core, is pushing the Islamic Republic toward collapse or hardening its resolve. I suggest that Trump’s economic strangulation policy and calls for regime change may close the door on diplomacy. If anything, the president’s maximalist approach and rhetoric play into Iran's survival narrative and undermine Iranian proponents of a negotiated end to the war, while strengthening the country’s hardliners. Finally, I look at whether sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic’s political, military, and economic elite may prove more effective than the United States’ sweeping economic blockade that penalises ordinary Iranians the most.

As the United States seeks to strangulate Iran economically, the question is whether the policy, with the US naval blockade of Iranian ports at its core, is pushing the Islamic Republic toward collapse or hardening its resolve. I suggest that Trump’s economic strangulation policy and calls for regime change may close the door on diplomacy. If anything, the president’s maximalist approach and rhetoric play into Iran's survival narrative and undermine Iranian proponents of a negotiated end to the war, while strengthening the country’s hardliners. Finally, I look at whether sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic’s political, military, and economic elite may prove more effective than the United States’ sweeping economic blockade that penalises ordinary Iranians the most.

A look at why the United States and Iran may be on the brink of renewed military conflict. I unpack Donald Trump's stepped-up pressure campaign and the limits of his sanctions-based leverage, Trump’s rejection of a fleeting opportunity to negotiate, and why pressure to capitulate hardens Iran rather than bends it. From there I get into why Iran may increasingly see escalation as its least bad option, and the reasons the UAE could again become a primary regional target.

James discusses with CNA 938 host Daniel Martin US President Donald Trump’s’s plan to make the Strait of Hormuz a US territory, the president’s downgrading of annual military exercises with South Korea, and the Ukraine war in a three-segment interview.

A new tri-lateral defence pact between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan is reshaping the security map of the Gulf and beyond. In this episode, I unpack why Riyadh is reframing regional security in competition with the United Arab Emirates and Israel, what the pact signals for Iran and the wider bloc politics of the Middle East, and how the ongoing Iran war has turned into a test of endurance. I also assess how far Turkey and Pakistan are actually willing to go — and where each is likely to tread cautiously despite the pact's expanded scope.

Syria’s former President Bashar al-Assad and his brother, Maher al-Assad have been sentenced to death in absentia by a Damascus court for war crimes and crimes against humanity, while their cousin Atef Najib faced trial and sentencing in person. BFM 89.9 speaks with Dr. James M. Dorsey, adjunct senior fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, on the political significance of the verdict and whether it represents meaningful justice for Syria.

James joins Richard Hext, chairman of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association, on HKTU’s Backchat to discuss what next for the embattled Strait of Hormuz and global shipping.

A look at why Abqaiq — the linchpin of Saudi Arabia's oil-processing infrastructure — is the most consequential target in the Houthis' escalating campaign. I trace how the U.S. has moved from conditional support to a direct stake in the Kingdom's security, why Abqaiq functions as Saudi Arabia's most critical processing point, and how Red Sea escalation is reshaping Saudi countermoves. I close on the delicate balance of restraint and military buildup, and the risk that a knock-out strike at Abqaiq could pull the region into a wider war.

The battle for control of the Strait of Hormuz is part of a jigsaw puzzle that, once put together, will depict the Middle East and the Horn of Africa’s post-war political map and regional security architecture.

So, will the struggle for control of the Bab al-Mandab waterway on the other side of the Gulf peninsula.

If the battle for the opening of the Strait is fought with naval blockades, missiles, drones, and fighter jets, the weaponry in the struggle to secure free navigation in Bab al-Mandab includes airports, ports, pipelines, roads and railways.