The U.S. Treasury Department has launched "Operation Economic Outcast," an economic sanctions campaign against Iran, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced. The initiative targets Iran's financial networks and aims to sever the country's access to the global economy.
The campaign targets five of Iran's vital economic lifelines: digital assets, technology, gold, aviation, and shipping. Treasury officials are sanctioning over 60 entities, individuals, and vessels across the world that enable Iran to procure nuclear and missile technology, conduct cyber operations, and generate oil revenue, Bessent said.
Bessent said Treasury has mapped "every node, every facilitator, and every network that Iran has used to smuggle oil and evade sanctions." The department will enforce a "zero-leakage approach," he said, to block every potential source of revenue for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Iranian regime.
The initiative includes specific actions: every branch of Bank Melli, Iran's largest bank, must be shuttered, Bessent said. Any entity that facilitates money laundering on behalf of Iran will be removed from the U.S. dollar system. Every country has been given a timeline to shut down activities identified by the U.S., with potential unilateral Treasury action if countries do not comply.
Bessent said nations are already responding to the campaign, citing comments from Iranian leadership that acknowledged its effect. Teams from the Treasury, State Department, and U.S. military are meeting with global counterparts to enforce compliance, he said.