US to tighten secondary sanctions on Iran and its business partners every week, Treasury Secretary Bessent declares, as Trump leans into economic campaign against Tehran.
By World Israel News Staff
The Trump administration is preparing to roll out new secondary sanctions against Iran and its international business partners on a near-weekly basis, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday, signaling a sharp escalation in Washington’s effort to financially isolate Tehran.
Speaking ahead of a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Asheville, North Carolina, Bessent said the initial focus of the campaign would be foreign banks that continue to handle Iranian money or facilitate transactions for the Islamic Republic.
“You’re going to see a lot more of these every week,” Bessent said. “We’re starting with the banks.”
The new measures are part of Operation Economic Outcast, an initiative launched by the Treasury Department on August 24 under orders from President Donald Trump.
The campaign is designed to expand the threat of US secondary sanctions beyond Iranian entities themselves to foreign companies and financial institutions that continue conducting business with Tehran.
Bessent said he intends to use the G20 gathering to warn foreign governments that institutions under their jurisdiction could lose access to the US financial system if they continue facilitating Iranian transactions.
“There can be no leakage,” Bessent said. “You’re either with us or you’re with the Iranians.”
The warning follows the administration’s first major action against a third-country bank under the new campaign.
On Friday, the Treasury Department moved to cut the United Arab Emirates branches of Egypt’s Banque Misr off from correspondent banking with US financial institutions.
Treasury accused the branches of providing Iran with a major channel for accessing US dollars and facilitating its international shadow-banking network.
Treasury estimates that between January 2024 and June 2026, Banque Misr’s UAE operations processed approximately $1.8 billion for 103 companies potentially connected to Iranian shadow-banking networks.
Some of the companies allegedly served as fronts for Iran’s Ministry of Defense and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“Treasury promised to sever every economic lifeline Tehran has left,” Bessent said following the action against Banque Misr UAE.
He warned that institutions assisting Iran could not expect continued access to the dollar and international financial system.
The Treasury Department also sanctioned Reza Mohammad Taeedi, manager of Iran’s Bank Melli branch in Dubai, as well as a Hong Kong-based company accused of helping launder money for a sanctioned Iranian exchange house.
The central banks of Egypt and the UAE said Sunday that they were coordinating over the US action. The UAE central bank has also said it will conduct a forensic investigation into the allegations against Banque Misr’s branches in the country.
The proposed US restrictions apply specifically to Banque Misr’s UAE operations and not to the bank’s headquarters in Cairo or its other foreign branches.
When Operation Economic Outcast was launched last week, the US Treasury expanded the range of Iranian economic activity that can expose foreign companies to sanctions, adding digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping to sectors Washington can target more aggressively.
The department also sanctioned nearly 60 individuals, companies and vessels connected to Iranian nuclear and missile procurement, cyber operations and oil revenue networks.
US officials said foreign governments would be given defined periods to shut down identified Iran-related activity before Washington begins imposing penalties.
Bessent described the campaign at its launch as an “economic onslaught” intended to dismantle Iran’s international financial connections.
“Our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains this tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone,” he said.
China remains a potentially significant test for the new policy.
Chinese refiners have for years been the largest purchasers of Iranian crude, while Washington has previously targeted smaller Chinese refineries and companies involved in transporting Iranian oil without imposing sweeping sanctions on major Chinese banks.
Bessent dismissed arguments that the campaign cannot succeed without immediately sanctioning Chinese financial institutions, saying the US naval blockade of Iran has already sharply restricted Tehran’s ability to deliver crude to Chinese buyers.
Iranian oil offers to China have declined as the blockade has squeezed exports and forced more crude into floating storage.
When the administration announced Operation Economic Outcast on August 24, Bessent said no country would automatically be exempt from future penalties.
He warned that institutions helping transform Iranian oil sales into usable revenue would eventually be targeted if they failed to break those ties.
The administration has portrayed the economic campaign as a second front alongside the US military blockade and direct military pressure on Iran.
The latest sanctions push comes as direct fighting between Washington and Tehran has again intensified.
US forces struck Iranian missile launchers on Larak Island near the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend after US officials said Iranian forces were preparing to deploy additional mines in the strategic waterway.
Iran subsequently fired ballistic missiles toward US forces in Jordan.
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