Washington has launched a sweeping new sanctions campaign against Iran, threatening to cut companies and other entities out of the US dollar system if they continue facilitating financial dealings with Tehran.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the initiative on Monday alongside sanctions targeting almost 60 individuals, companies and vessels across several jurisdictions. The Treasury alleges those targeted have been involved in supplying Iran with prohibited nuclear and missile technology, supporting Iranian cyber activities or facilitating the country’s oil trade.
Twenty-one of the newly sanctioned entities and individuals are based in China. Washington has also identified digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping as sectors that could face further secondary sanctions.
Bessent described the broader campaign as “Operation Economic Outcast,” saying it marked the beginning of an “economic onslaught against Iran’s financial connections around the globe.”
He warned that the consequences could extend well beyond Iranian entities.
“Any entity that facilitates money laundering on behalf of Iran will be removed from the US dollar system,” Bessent said, adding that “the clock just started ticking.”
The threat potentially places numerous countries in Washington’s sights. World Bank figures show Iran exports goods to 147 countries and imports from 114.
Asked how the United States intended to persuade such a large number of countries to reduce their dealings with Tehran, Bessent said President Donald Trump had spoken with several international leaders over the weekend and made specific requests for them to curtail interactions with Iran.
According to Bessent, countries had been given defined periods in which to respond. He declined, however, to identify the governments concerned or publicly disclose the deadlines.
Questions also remain over how Washington will approach China, Iran’s largest trading partner. Bessent stopped short of saying whether Beijing was expected to fully comply, arguing that the administration preferred “quiet diplomacy.”
In the Second World War, D-Day marked the historic beginning of a campaign with our allies to target and drive the enemy from its positions, including those in third countries. Today, in that same spirit, we are launching an economic onslaught against Iran’s financial connections… pic.twitter.com/1fLyobUucu
— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) August 24, 2026
“We know who they are. They know who they are,” he said, while warning that “no-one is above the reach of US sanctions.”
Iranian officials dismissed Washington’s latest pressure campaign.
Senior Iranian negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf responded that the Americans knew “no one buys their bombast,” arguing that Washington was not economically positioned to further restrict its relationships with countries around the world.
Ghalibaf claimed Iran’s trading partners had indicated both publicly and privately that they did not intend to take Washington’s threats seriously.
The increasingly confrontational rhetoric has also extended to the strategically vital Persian Gulf.
Mohsen Rezaei, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, warned on Sunday that “not a single drop” of oil would leave the Persian Gulf or Strait of Hormuz if Gulf countries participated in Washington’s economic pressure campaign.
Rezaei also warned that Iran would respond “in a seismic manner” if Trump took further action against Tehran.
The latest sanctions follow Trump’s warning last week that Iran faced what he termed an “Economic D-Day” after a 60-day period for reaching an agreement with Tehran ended without a breakthrough.
Trump has publicly ruled out returning to negotiations. Diplomatic efforts have nevertheless continued, with Pakistan’s Chief of Defense Forces Asim Munir arriving in Tehran on Monday in an attempt to help revive talks.
