Bessent Says, "We Will Economically Strangle Iran"; U.S. Signals Weekly Sanctions

【Financial News, New York = Correspondent Lee Byung-chul】  The United States is launching sweeping sanctions aimed at effectively expelling Iran from the international financial and economic system. As early as this week, Washington plans to impose additional sanctions on banks used by Iran for transactions and pursue measures to seize the overseas assets of Iran’s leadership. Its strategy is to cut off Iran’s economic lifeline by threatening a “secondary boycott” against third countries and companies that do business with Iran.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on the 1st local time at the Group of Twenty (G20) finance ministers’ meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, “We will probably announce bank sanctions this week, and we will announce another one the following week.” He stressed, “We will apply a policy of zero tolerance,” adding, “We will economically strangle this regime.”
The name of the U.S. economic campaign against Iran, unveiled last week, is “Operation Economic Outcast.” Its core objective is to isolate Iran from global financial and trade networks and weaken its economic ability to continue the war. The United States has warned that it may impose sanctions and economic penalties on countries and companies that do not sever their economic ties with Iran.
The scope of the sanctions is also expanding rapidly. Bessent said the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury Department) would impose additional sanctions on banks that facilitate transactions essential to Iran’s economy. Aircraft leasing companies and businesses and institutions that deal with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are also being considered for sanctions.
The measures also target assets hidden overseas by Iran’s leadership. Bessent said the Treasury Department was working to seize the leadership’s overseas assets, citing funds in bank accounts in the British Virgin Islands as a specific example.
The United States has already begun extending its sanctions network to actual financial institutions. Last week, it shut down the Dubai branch of an Egyptian bank accused of helping Iran evade sanctions. By simultaneously pressuring banks, overseas assets, and companies that do business with the IRGC, Washington is seeking to block even the channels Iran uses to circumvent the international financial system.
Bessent particularly emphasized that the sanctions would not be limited to unilateral U.S. action. He said Washington was consulting with its allies on the sidelines of the G20 meeting and stated, “Everyone is actively engaged, and we have confirmed very strong support.” According to The New York Times (NYT), Bessent expressed optimism that the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were prepared to join the U.S. Operation Economic Outcast.
The Iranian government dismissed the sanctions’ effectiveness, saying it had sufficient foreign-exchange reserves. Abdolnaser Hemmati, governor of the Central Bank of Iran, claimed, “I say to the U.S. president: Iran has foreign currency, and it has enough.” He also said Iran was prepared to inject up to $2 billion into the market to calm recent volatility in the foreign-exchange market.
However, pressure on Iran’s economy is already visible in the figures. The Iranian rial plunged to a record low in August, falling below the level of 2 million rials per dollar. Annual inflation reached 66% in July.




[email protected] Correspondent Lee Byung-chul Reporter