US Treasury launches "unprecedented" campaign against Iran
Shafaq News- Washington
The United States launched “Operation Economic Outcast” on Monday, an unprecedented campaign to isolate Iran from global economic and financial networks, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated, declaring sanctions on 60 entities, individuals, and vessels linked to Iran’s nuclear, missile, and oil sectors.
Bessent outlined the operation as a campaign directed by President Donald Trump against Iran and those supporting or enabling it, pointing to networks Washington had identified as involved in moving Iranian oil and circumventing US sanctions.
The Treasury Department also suspended general licenses that had allowed certain financial transfers to Iran. The measures target companies and vessels linked to Iran’s “shadow fleet” in the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, and Switzerland.
Bessent warned countries facilitating Iranian oil smuggling or allowing their banks to serve Iran that they could face US action. “Washington will give affected countries deadlines to halt specified activities, including the closure of overseas branches of Iranian banks.” Any entity facilitating money laundering for Iran will risk exclusion from the US dollar-based financial system, Bessent also warned, declaring that “no one is beyond the reach of US sanctions.
.@SecScottBessent: "The final refuge of this regime is the mistaken conclusion of nations that still finance the Iranian threat in the hopes of evading it. It is no longer acceptable to operate in the gray spaces of this conflict." pic.twitter.com/wRTADQcHVD
— Treasury Department (@USTreasury) August 24, 2026
The measures target five sectors that Bessent described as vital channels used by Iran abroad: digital assets, technology, gold, aviation, and maritime shipping. Bessent also warned that countries continuing to facilitate transactions with Iran would face consequences. “Washington would sanction a major financial institution by the end of the week over its dealings with Tehran.” He invoked the Allied landing in Normandy during World War II to describe the scale of the campaign and accused Iran of “causing more deaths and injuries among US citizens and troops than any other terrorist regime.”
The US Treasury Secretary noted that the strength of the US economy allows Washington to sustain the financial campaign alongside its military power, explaining that officials had identified “every point of contact, every facilitator and every network” used by Iran to move oil and evade sanctions.
The latest measures build on Washington’s broader campaign targeting Iran’s oil trade and shadow fleet, including previous sanctions against shipping companies and vessels involved in Iranian petroleum exports.
