On March 9, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a new economic pressure campaign against Iran, pledging to target Tehran's financial interests worldwide.
Speaking on Monday, Bessent said the U.S. will target all of Iran's revenue sources, including oil, to deter countries and companies from doing business with Tehran.
“Around the world, our goal is to cut off every economic lifeline sustaining this brutal regime until Tehran stands completely alone,” Bessent declared.
He warned parties Washington calls “supporters” of Iran to stop buying oil and transacting with Tehran. He stressed that countries worldwide must choose between the U.S. and Iran, adding that the new campaign would expose Iran's trade partners to secondary sanctions.
“No one is beyond the reach of U.S. sanctions,” Bessent said, asserting that any country or entity facilitating transactions and operating within the ecosystem that turns Iran's oil into money and tools of repression will be targeted.
The new campaign is dubbed “Operation Economic Outcast.” Bessent also called it an “economic D-Day,” likening it to the Allied invasion of France's coast to repel Nazi Germany during World War II.
The move comes nearly six months after the U.S. and Israel conducted airstrikes against Iran without direct provocation. Those attacks killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and several senior officials but did not collapse Tehran's governance system.
Iran retaliated with missile and drone strikes across the region. It also largely shut down and controlled the Strait of Hormuz, a global energy artery, sending oil and gas prices soaring.
Multiple rounds of conflict and diplomacy have failed to resolve the crisis. The latest sanctions campaign is Washington's newest effort to pressure Iran into major concessions, including abandoning its nuclear program and ceasing attacks on vessels in Hormuz.
Bessent said President Donald Trump has called world leaders with specific demands to stop engaging with Iran's regime. “Those who side with the U.S. will benefit from this partnership. Those who stick with the Iranian regime will share in its isolation,” he said.
U.S. officials said the new sanctions will target Iran's “five most critical lifelines,” including digital assets, technology, gold, aviation, and maritime shipping.
