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- The Trump administration’s economic tariffs on Iran look set to target China as an “enabler.”
- “Operation Economic Outcast” could stoke tensions between Washington and Beijing ahead of Xi’s U.S. visit next month.
- Bitcoin rallies above $80,000, rising more than 20% in 3 days, while gold hits a 3-month high.
- In auto news, Porsche inks a $1.5 billion AI deal with Tata Consultancy, while Xpeng sinks on a weak delivery forecast.
- French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince sign a $7 billion “Dragon Ball Z” theme park near Paris.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent points as reporters raise their hands during a press conference to outline further sanctions against Iran, at the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C., U.S., Aug. 24, 2026. Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
Hello, this is Leonie Kidd coming to you from London.
It’s sound and fury from the Trump administration as it unveils its economic war against Iran. But the announcement has raised a lot of questions about how it could impact the Iranian regime’s so-called “enablers.”
Read on.
What you need to know today
“We are launching an economic onslaught against Iran’s financial connections around the globe.” That’s the warning from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as he detailed his plan to isolate Iran’s economy by imposing secondary sanctions.
“Any entity that facilitates money laundering on behalf of Iran will be removed from the U.S. dollar system,” he said. “The clock just started ticking.”
Operation Economic Outcast
The plan has raised immediate questions over whether it would target China as a so-called “enabler” of Iranian foreign economic activity. China is the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, suggesting the Administration’s efforts to cut off the regime could target Chinese companies.
A fragile trade truce has so far held between Washington and Beijing, as both nations prepare for Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit U.S. President Donald Trump next month.
Bitcoin is back
Bitcoin has crossed the $80,000 mark for the first time since May. The latest move extends a sharp rally that began last week, when bitcoin surged more than 20% in three days — its biggest three-day gain since 2023.
A resurgence in inflows into spot bitcoin ETFs, as well as improving risk sentiment, has benefited the cryptocurrency.
Banking on gold
Meanwhile, gold has hit a three-month high. The rally in the precious metal has been supported by a weaker U.S. dollar, as well as the U.S. Treasury’s bond buyback plan, which has slowed the spike in yields.
The yellow metal has gained over 15% so far this month.
In the driving seat
Auto stories are dominating the corporate news agenda on Tuesday.
German luxury car giant Porsche has signed a $1.5 billion AI deployment deal with India’s largest IT services firm Tata Consulting.
Meanwhile, shares in Xpeng are sinking after the Chinese EV maker issued a weaker-than-expected delivery forecast. This overshadowed a $900 million raise for its robotic business, valuing the unit at $6.3 billion.
Anime diplomacy
Anime fans will celebrate the news that French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have agreed to build a $7 billion manga-inspired theme park near Paris. The “Dragon Ball Z” world is expected to create over 20 thousand jobs.
Macron took to X.com to big-up the announcement. “You know my passion for manga. You also know my determination to attract to France the investments that create jobs and make the most ambitious projects possible.”
— Leonie Kidd
And Finally…
BlackBerry found a second life in car software. Now it’s looking to robotics
BlackBerry may be best known for its QWERTY-keyboard smartphones, but the company today is building its next chapter around software for cars, robots and secure communications.
BlackBerry CEO John Giamatteo joins CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal to explain how the company has reinvented itself around QNX, BlackBerry’s operating system used in software-defined vehicles.
— Arjun Kharpal
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