WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that the United States is ending, not managing, the Iranian threat, announcing a campaign called "Operation Economic Outcast" designed to sever every financial channel sustaining Tehran's government.
"Our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains this tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone," Bessent said at a news conference. He framed Iran's government with two options: complete global isolation or a negotiated settlement on Washington's terms.
Bessent warned that any country, company or financial institution continuing to do business with Iran faces consequences. He specifically cited Iran's use of digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping networks in third countries as channels Washington intends to shut down. Countries that do not cut ties with Tehran face a deadline, though Bessent did not disclose the specific date.
The campaign targets secondary sanctions — financial restrictions against third parties that trade with Iran. The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which administers U.S. sanctions programs, is the primary enforcement body.
On the water, U.S. Central Command reported that American forces have redirected 70 commercial vessels, disabled three and boarded two as of Aug. 23 while enforcing a naval blockade against Iran in the Arabian Sea. The guided-missile destroyer USS John Finn is among the warships conducting those operations.
Iran responded on multiple fronts. State media quoted Iranian officials Sunday characterizing U.S. sanctions threats as an "implicit admission of the enemy's humiliating defeat." Tehran gave no indication it was prepared to negotiate on Washington's terms.
Iran's Ports and Maritime Organization issued an escalation Monday. In a statement, the authority warned that vessels violating Iranian protocols for the Strait of Hormuz face fines, detention or confiscation. Any vessel cooperating with ships already on Iran's non-compliance list — through ship-to-ship transfers, transshipment or similar operations — will itself be added to the list.
The warning follows an announcement Iran made Sunday requiring vessels from what it described as "authorised" countries to pay service fees to Tehran when transiting the waterway. Roughly 20 percent of global oil supply passes through the strait, making any disruption to commercial navigation there an immediate concern for energy markets worldwide.
The confrontation puts third-party countries — particularly large buyers of Iranian oil such as China — in direct test. Bessent's language about consequences for Iran's "enablers" is aimed at governments and companies that have continued purchasing Iranian crude or maintaining financial relationships with Tehran despite existing U.S. sanctions. Washington's threat is that participation in the Iranian economy now carries the risk of being locked out of the U.S. financial system.
