US launches 'Operation Economic Outcast' targeting Iran
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent unveiled a sweeping new sanctions campaign against Iran, aiming to cut off financial flows funding the regime amid the ongoing war. The effort targets five sectors Tehran relies on to prop up its economy.
The United States announced a new sanctions initiative on Monday, dubbed "Operation Economic Outcast," aimed at isolating Iran's regime from the global financial system. At a press conference, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the effort as an "unprecedented campaign" and an "economic onslaught" against Iran and those who enable it.
Bessent said the Treasury has identified the networks and facilitators Iran has used to smuggle oil and dodge sanctions. He pledged that, starting immediately, the Treasury and other agencies would block revenue sources funding the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the ruling regime. Any entity found helping launder money on Iran's behalf would be cut off from the US dollar system.
He added that President Donald Trump was reaching out to world leaders, urging them to halt cooperation with Iran. The Treasury also announced new determinations covering five sectors — digital assets, technology, gold, aviation, and shipping — which Tehran has used to sustain its struggling economy.
A choice for Iran
Bessent said Iran now faces a clear decision: complete global isolation and a subsistence-level economy, or a path back toward normal relations and reintegration into the world economy.
The announcement comes roughly six months after US and Israeli strikes on Iran marked the start of the regional war, which the Trump administration says is meant to prevent Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon. The conflict has largely stalled in recent months, with negotiations stalling and rising tension over control of the Strait of Hormuz, the vital oil and gas transit route linking the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman.
