The United States is launching an initiative called "Operation Economic Outcast" against Iran as Washington seeks to sever Tehran's financial lifelines amid the ongoing conflict. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent outlined the "unprecedented campaign" against Iran and its "enablers" at a press conference on Monday, describing it as an "economic onslaught" aimed at isolating the Iranian regime.
Bessent said Treasury had "mapped every node, every facilitator, and every network that Iran has used to smuggle oil and evade sanctions." He added that "beginning today, the actions of Treasury and other agencies will tighten the noose and block every potential source of revenue that funds the IRGC and the evil Iranian regime." Any entity that facilitates money laundering on behalf of Iran will be removed from the US dollar system, he said.
The Treasury Department announced it had "issued determinations against five critical sectors — digital assets, technology, gold, aviation, and shipping — that the Iranian regime uses to try to prop up its failing economy." Bessent said US President Donald Trump was contacting unspecified world leaders requesting that they stop working with Iran.
Bessent presented Tehran with two options. "Complete global isolation and a subsistence economy, or a path back to normalcy, with an opportunity to rejoin the global economy," he said. The announcement comes roughly six months after US and Israeli strikes on Iran marked the beginning of the regional conflict, which the Trump administration says aims to ensure Iran cannot obtain a nuclear weapon.
The conflict has largely stalled in recent months, with negotiations faltering and disputes over the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway connecting the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. Both Washington and Tehran have claimed control over the passage, with the waterway serving as a crucial oil and gas transit route.
