The United States is launching what it has called “Operation Economic Exclusion” against Iran, as Washington seeks to cut off Tehran’s financial lifelines amid the ongoing war.
At a press conference on Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent outlined a new, “unprecedented” campaign against Iran and its “enablers,” describing it as an “economic assault” aimed at isolating the Iranian regime.
“Treasury has mapped every node, every facilitator and every network that Iran has used to smuggle oil and evade sanctions,” he said.
“Beginning today, actions by Treasury and other agencies will tighten the noose and block every potential source of revenue that funds the IRGC and the evil Iranian regime,” he added.
“Any entity that facilitates money laundering on behalf of Iran will be removed from the US dollar system,” he continued, adding that US President Donald Trump was contacting unspecified world leaders demanding that they stop working with Iran.
As part of the campaign, the Treasury Department announced on Monday that it had “issued decisions against five critical sectors – digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping – that the Iranian regime uses to prop up its declining economy.”
Moving forward, Bessent said Iran was now left with “a very clear choice.”
“Complete global isolation and a survival economy, or a path back to normality, with an opportunity to rejoin the global economy,” he added.
Bessent’s warning comes about six months after US and Israeli attacks on Iran marked the start of the war in the region, which the Trump administration says is aimed at ensuring that Iran can never acquire a nuclear weapon.
The conflict has largely stalled in recent months, with shaky negotiations and a growing dispute over the Strait of Hormuz.
The strategic waterway, a key oil and gas transit point connecting the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, has been a sticking point in talks between Washington and Tehran, with both sides claiming control over the passage.