Published on 24/08/2026 - 21:11 GMT+2•Updated 21:36

The United States is launching what it has branded "Operation Economic Outcast" against Iran as Washington seeks to sever Tehran's financial lifelines amid the ongoing war.

In a press conference on Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent outlined a new, "unprecedented campaign" against Iran and its "enablers," describing it as an "economic onslaught" 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, 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 continued, adding that US President Donald Trump was contacting unspecified world leaders requesting that they stop working with Iran.

As part of the campaign, the Treasury Department announced on Monday that it had also "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."

Moving forward, Bessent said Iran was now left with "a very clear choice."

"Complete global isolation and a subsistence economy, or a path back to normalcy, with an opportunity to rejoin the global economy".

Bessent's warning comes around six months after US and Israeli strikes on Iran marked the beginning of the war in the region, which the Trump administration says aims to ensure Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon.

The conflict has largely ground to a stalemate in recent months, with negotiations faltering and a growing dispute over the Strait of Hormuz.

The strategic waterway, a crucial oil and gas transit chokepoint that connects 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.