U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the launch of an economic isolation campaign targeting Iran and those supporting it, at the direction of U.S. President Donald Trump. Bessent said the move targeted Tehran’s economic revenues and financing channels.
Bessent said the campaign aimed to cut the economic channels sustaining Iran and maintain pressure on the country. He argued that this was necessary to advance the U.S. goal of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
He said Iran had been given two options
Bessent said the U.S. economy allowed Washington to carry out a prolonged financial operation, adding that Iran had to choose between total global isolation and a subsistence economy or reintegration into the global economy.
Bessent said the U.S. Treasury Department had identified the links, intermediaries and networks Iran uses for oil smuggling and sanctions evasion. He announced that they would target the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and revenue sources financing Iran.
Bessent said countries purchasing or transporting Iranian oil, as well as parties facilitating the flow of financial resources through currency exchanges and free-trade zones, would also face sanctions. He said such activities were no longer acceptable.
Sanctions cover five sectors
Bessent said Trump had spoken with world leaders about ending relations with Iran and that results were beginning to emerge. He said countries facilitating economic engagement with Iran had been warned that they would face sanctions pressure if they failed to comply with U.S. demands.
Bessent said teams from the U.S. Treasury, State and Defense departments had held talks with counterparts in various regions around the world. He announced that countries had been given time to end the identified activities, adding that the U.S. Treasury Department would act unilaterally if they failed to do so.
Bessent said organizations facilitating money laundering on behalf of Iran would be cut off from the U.S. dollar system. He said the new sectoral sanctions covered digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and transportation. He added that the measures would expand the risk of secondary sanctions for those continuing to do business with Iran.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on more than 60 entities, individuals and vessels worldwide for contributing to Iran’s acquisition of illicit nuclear and missile technologies, its cyber operations and its oil revenues.
Netanyahu backed the decision
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the United States’ new sanctions against Iran and congratulated Donald Trump and Scott Bessent. A statement issued on Netanyahu’s behalf said the United States was right to demand a heavy price from Iran and those helping it.
Bessent said those establishing economic ties with Iran would face consequences and that U.S. policy would continue. He said countries supporting Iran had to choose between prosperity and isolation.
