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The United States has launched what it calls an “economic D-Day” against Iran, warning countries around the world to cut financial ties with Tehran or risk being targeted by American sanctions.
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent announced “Operation Economic Outcast” yesterday, describing it as an unprecedented campaign designed to sever Iran’s economic lifelines and isolate the regime internationally.
“In that same spirit, we are launching an economic onslaught against Iran’s financial connections around the globe,” Bessent said, comparing the operation to the Allied D-Day campaign during the Second World War.
“Our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains this tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone.”
The treasury imposed sanctions on nearly 60 individuals, companies and vessels accused of supporting Iranian oil revenues, nuclear and missile procurement and cyber operations. It also expanded the range of activities that could trigger secondary sanctions - penalties on foreign businesses and institutions that deal with Iran - to include digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping.
However, Washington stopped short of immediately sanctioning Iran’s biggest trading partners. China, Iran’s largest oil customer, was not hit with sanctions against its major financial institutions. Bessent said countries would be given time to comply first.
“If they facilitate transactions and are part of the ecosystem that turns Iranian oil into money, into repression, they will be targeted,” he warned.
The measures come as Iran’s economy faces mounting pressure after almost six months of war. The Iranian rial fell to a record low of 2.02 million to the US dollar on Monday, while the International Monetary Fund forecasts the Iranian economy will contract by 5.4 per cent this year.
Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf dismissed Washington’s threats, saying Tehran’s trading partners had made clear they did not take the warnings seriously. That is despite the UAE, one of the country's major economic lifelines and victims of Iranian attacks in the latest war, cutting ties this month.
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