The Trump administration on Monday broadened its sanctions campaign against Iran and threatened foreign governments and companies with new penalties if they continue doing business with Tehran, as the U.S. seeks to cut off the country from the global economy after months of war.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced sanctions that target digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping. The administration also sanctioned more than 60 entities, individuals and vessels it says helped Iran generate oil revenue, obtain nuclear and missile technology and conduct cyber operations.
Bessent said countries and companies are being given individual deadlines to end Iran-related activity identified by the U.S. He would not specify the dates but warned Washington would move quickly against those that do not comply.
He also did not identify the countries that could face secondary sanctions, but China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates are among Iran’s biggest trading partners.
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“Every country has a defined timeline to shut down activities we have identified,” Bessent said at a news conference. “If they do not take action, we will do so unilaterally through Treasury authorities.”
More sanctions are coming, Bessent said, adding that he expects a “major announcement” targeting a financial institution by the end of the week.
The administration is calling the campaign “Operation Economic Outcast,” part of what Bessent has described as an “economic D-Day” against Iran.
But Bessent said Washington is giving governments and companies a chance to change their behavior before imposing the harshest penalties.
“Why would I want to blow up the global financial system?” Bessent said. “We believe that it is important to level set and give people a cure period, but they should know that that will move very quickly and that we are serious.”
Those that do not comply could lose access to the dollar system, he said.
The administration stopped short Monday of targeting major Chinese banks, which could leave gaps in the U.S. effort to isolate Iran. China continues to buy most of the Iranian oil shipped abroad.
Asked whether Chinese financial institutions could be targeted later, Bessent declined to name potential targets but said no institution was beyond Washington’s reach.
“No one is above the reach of U.S. sanctions,” Bessent said. “If they facilitate transactions and are part of the ecosystem that turns Iranian oil into money, into repression, they will be targeted.”
Bessent said Trump is calling foreign leaders directly, with Treasury and State Department officials following up with specific demands and deadlines.
“We know who they are; they know who they are,” Bessent said. “So when the hammer of U.S. Treasury actions falls upon them, they will have no one to blame but themselves.”
The new economic offensive is the latest attempt to end the war, following months of military operations and diplomatic negotiations. The White House initially said it expected the conflict’s military objectives, which began in February, to take four to six weeks.
Trump has repeatedly portrayed Iran as close to defeat even as the war has continued.
“IRAN IS COMPLETELY COLLAPSING!!!” Trump wrote Monday morning on Truth Social.
Iran is already one of the most heavily sanctioned countries in the world. The administration has spent months tightening restrictions on its oil exports, financial networks and shipping operations. The U.S. blockade of Iranian shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has added another layer of pressure.
That leaves fewer obvious lanes for Washington to apply financial penalties.
Richard Nephew, a former deputy special envoy for Iran who helped design and implement U.S. sanctions policy, said that before Monday’s announcement, most major targets were already covered by existing restrictions.
“The real issue is the implementation side and the degree to which closing off a couple more of these cracks that exist in the sanctions regime is going to materially change things,” said Nephew, who is now at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. “I think it’s reasonable to be suspicious of.”
Those remaining gaps are mostly enforcement problems, he added, including Chinese purchases of Iranian oil and transactions that continue through foreign banks and companies.
He said the blockade may now matter more than another round of sanctions.
“The blockade is probably doing more of that than sanctions at this point,” Nephew said. “I think sanctions are a secondary issue on this.”
Iranian oil shipments to China fell to roughly 534,000 barrels a day so far in August, down from 823,000 in July, according to shipping data cited by Reuters.
China still buys the vast majority of Iranian oil shipped abroad, according to Kpler. Much of that trade runs through smaller independent refiners rather than major state-owned refiners.
Nephew said that fully isolating Iran would require Washington to confront China more directly, either by threatening Chinese companies with sanctions or offering Beijing something in return for ending its purchases.
“The only way they can do it is one of two things: They either tell the Chinese we’re going to impose sanctions on these companies unless you stop it, or they say, let’s do a trade,” Nephew said.
Washington could go further by targeting major Chinese banks or oil companies. But that would risk retaliation from Beijing.
“There’s a lot we could potentially do, but it’s the blowback question,” Nephew said.
It remains unclear whether more economic pressure can accomplish what months of military action and diplomacy have not: force Tehran into an agreement acceptable to President Donald Trump.
Nephew said the sanctions campaign that preceded the 2015 nuclear agreement produced significant Iranian concessions. He said heavier sanctions imposed since then have failed to produce comparable results.
“You can make a good faith argument, I think, that you are never going to recapture those benefits under a sanctions campaign,” Nephew said.
Bessent on Monday cast Tehran’s coming decision in starker terms.
“Iran now faces a very clear choice, with only two paths before them: complete global isolation and a subsistence economy, or a path back to normalcy with an opportunity to rejoin the global economy,” he said.
Targeting Iranian oil could create problems for Trump at home. Driving more Iranian crude from the market could tighten global supply and push up energy prices as November’s midterm elections approach.
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