Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced plans for a wave of new sanctions Monday aimed at further isolating Iran, after threatening the Islamic Republic with “an economic D-Day.” The sanctions will target international entities engaged in facilitating Iranian trade related to shipping, oil, crypto, gold and aviation.He said President Donald Trump was making phone calls to world leaders with “specific requests” to cease trading with the Iranian regime.
Bessent said the U.S.was launching an “economic onslaught” against Iran’s financial connections “around the globe” in order to “sever every economic pipeline” used by Iran “until Tehran stands alone.”Bessent said the U.S.
was engaging in “quiet diplomacy” with Iranian trade partners to warn them of the consequences for continuing to trade with Tehran.Any entity that facilitates money laundering on behalf of Iran will be removed from the U.S.
dollar system, he said.“No one is above the reach of U.S.
sanctions,” Bessent said, adding there was now a “cure period” for nations to end the targeted relations with Iran.Yet Bessent did not lay out any immediate concrete actions.
Markets showed little reaction to Bessent’s remarks.The U.S.
has for decades imposed direct sanctions on Iran and any businesses involved in prohibited activities like weapons procurement.But Iran has, in many cases, successfully evaded the sanctions by standing up new front companies.
Bessent promised Sunday to launch “the single greatest financial offensive ever,” in an op-ed in the Financial Times.“The world should understand that our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains the tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone,” he wrote, adding that any country partnering with Iran would also be financially isolated.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks at the Treasury Department in Washington on Monday.Julia Demaree Nikhinson / APMonday’s actions are designed to target �...