The U.S. Treasury Department announced a new round of secondary sanctions Monday aimed at countries that continue to do business with Iran, a move by the Trump administration to exact “economic asphyxiation” on Tehran.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the launch of Operation Economic Outcast, an effort to sever the financial lifeline that sustains Iran’s regime, which the United States has accused of using illicit revenues to fund global terrorism.
“Iran now faces a very clear choice, with only two paths before them: complete global isolation and a subsistence economy, or a path back to normalcy with an opportunity to rejoin the global economy,” Bessent said during a news conference.
TRUMP’S IRAN CRACKDOWN ‘SUFFOCATING’ REGIME AS OIL WELLS COULD SHUT WITHIN DAYS, BESSENT SAYS
The aggressive strategy, labeled as an “Economic D-Day,” targets critical industries such as Iran’s digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping in an effort to eliminate the revenue streams that fund international terrorism, Bessent said. The Trump administration will implement secondary sanctions to pressure nations into severing ties with Tehran, while simultaneously blacklisting nearly 60 people, businesses and vessels involved in illicit trade.
President Donald Trump was speaking with several world leaders, asking them for unspecified assistance in helping to tighten the economic rope around Iran, Bessent said.
“We are following his calls up with visits and calls from the State Department and from the U.S. Treasury, telling the leaders, the countries and the entities exactly what we expect and the timelines,” he said. “I would expect that very quickly. If they do not respond, then you will see the ramifications of their actions.”
The secondary sanctions will not be implemented right away, Bessent said, describing his announcement as a “warning shot” to nations thinking of doing business with Iran.
“We are giving everyone the opportunity to remedy bad behavior,” he said. “Why would I want to blow up the global financial system? We believe that it is important to level set and give people a cure, period. But they should know that that will move very quickly and that we are serious.”
“Treasury has mapped every node, every facilitator and every network that Iran has used to smuggle oil and evade sanctions. Beginning today, the actions of Treasury and other agencies will tighten the noose and block every potential source of revenue that funds the IRGC and the evil Iranian regime,” he added.
TRUMP CLAIMS IRAN ‘STARVING FOR CASH,’ ‘COLLAPSING FINANCIALLY’ AFTER EXTENDING CEASEFIRE
Iran has faced U.S. sanctions for decades, which have been aimed at curtailing a range of sectors in Tehran’s economy, including its oil revenues, as well as its ability to acquire weapons and other military equipment and cutting off funding for business enterprises controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Reuters previously reported.
In May, Bessent announced that the U.S. had seized roughly $1 billion in Iranian cryptocurrency assets.
Last week, Trump threatened “unprecedented” economic consequences for any nation assisting Iran, which he likened to an “economic D-Day.”
“I am also announcing that ANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences,” he wrote on Truth Social at the time.
“Oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries, front companies — It all needs to stop NOW,” he continued. “You know who you are. This will be an ECONOMIC D-DAY, and we need all of our Allies to stand with the United States of America to isolate, and defeat, the Iran threat. These maniacs are on the ropes, and these HISTORIC MEASURES will cripple them and their ability to project terror worldwide.”
Bessent warned nations doing business with Tehran, noting that no one is above the reach of U.S. sanctions.
“No nation should expect to enjoy the rewards of our system while helping those who seek to destroy it,” he said. “It is now a time for world leaders to make a decision between prosperity and isolation, peace and terror, America and Iran. The campaign we begin today will gather force with every day that follows, and it will not end until this regime stands alone.”
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