WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's administration unveiled economic sanctions against Iran that impose secondary sanctions on other countries trading in certain goods with Tehran.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent held a news conference at the Treasury building in Washington, D.C., on the 24th local time and said the United States was launching "Operation Economic Outcast" to block every option available to the Iranian regime. The core of the new package extends sanctions to other countries that trade with Iran. Specifically, countries that deal with Iran across five sectors — digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping — will be added to the sanctions list. The administration also designated more than 60 entities, individuals and vessels worldwide as new sanctions targets for helping the Iranian regime acquire nuclear and missile technology, conduct cyber operations and generate oil revenue.
Bessent said the Treasury had identified every hub, intermediary and network Iran had used to smuggle oil and evade sanctions. He stressed that the department would tighten the noose to cut off every potential source of revenue funding the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and what he called the malign Iranian regime. He added that any institution that facilitated money laundering on Iran's behalf would be excluded from the U.S. dollar system, saying the operation would follow a "zero leakage" approach.
The measures came as talks between the United States and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz reached a stalemate. The U.S. military had again turned to military means to pressure Iran but showed limits in drawing out tangible results. Recent reports said U.S. missile stockpiles were depleting rapidly and that the crew of the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, stationed off Iran, had reached a psychological breaking point.
Bessent had said earlier, through local media on the 14th, that the Trump administration would soon announce new sanctions against Iran. At the time, he said the administration would apply measures to economically isolate a particular country that had never been seen before in history, explaining that the United States had shifted from the military operation "Epic Fury" to "economic fury." Asked at the news conference about China — Iran's largest trading partner — apparently being left off the list, Bessent said no one could escape the reach of U.S. sanctions.
