The United States has announced a new round of sanctions targeting Iran’s financial links, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warning it amounted to “the single greatest financial offensive ever”.

Speaking at a press conference in Washington on Monday, Bessent said the measures, described as “Operation Economic Outcast”, were designed to cut off Iran’s ability to trade and finance activities linked to the Iranian regime and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The Treasury said the US would sever all economic ties with Iran, and warned that any country seeking to partner financially with Iran would face isolation. Bessent framed the step as a choice for Tehran between “complete global isolation” or “a path back to normalcy” through rejoining the global economy.

New Sanctions Package

Bessent said the Treasury Department had mapped networks, facilitators and financial channels used by Iran to evade US sanctions tied to trading oil.

The announcement includes determinations against five sectors: digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping. The Treasury also imposed sanctions on almost 60 entities, individuals and vessels.

Bessent said the action would “tighten the noose and block every potential source of revenue” for the IRGC and the wider Iranian regime. He also warned governments and organisations that assist or trade with Iran that they could not “claim they are blind to enabling this activity”.

He declined to name specific countries, but said President Donald Trump would contact world leaders with requests to stop interactions with the Iranian regime. Bessent said the US would allow time for governments and businesses to understand the new sanctions, but added that changes would “move very quickly”.

Oil Flows And Hormuz Warning

The latest US threat comes after shifting deadlines and reversals from the White House in efforts to end the conflict.

As fighting has continued, global oil prices have risen. In response to the most recent warning, Iran said it would shut down all oil exports from the region if the war continued. The Iranian regime also warned shipping not to pass through the Strait of Hormuz without its permission, according to Reuters.

About one fifth of the world’s oil and gas typically moves through the strait, a narrow waterway south of Iran. The flow has been effectively blocked since the conflict began at the end of February, contributing to higher oil prices worldwide.

Impact And Previous US Moves

David Oxley, chief climate and commodities economist at Capital Economics, said the sanctions package would likely have limited immediate effect on Iran’s energy revenues. He pointed to a renewed US naval blockade already restricting Iran’s oil exports, calling the impact of what he termed “economic D-Day” a “damp squib”.

Oxley said about 90% of Iran’s oil goes to China, adding that China has not recognised US sanctions in the past and was unlikely to change course quickly.

Previous US warnings during the conflict have included remarks by Trump in April, when he said “a whole civilisation will die tonight” unless Iran agreed a deal to end the war and unblock the Strait of Hormuz. The US later backed away from that position after mediator Pakistan intervened and called for further diplomacy.

The economic fallout is also being felt in the US and abroad. Higher oil prices have added to concerns about the cost of living, with petrol and diesel prices higher than a year ago. In the US, gasoline prices have passed $4 a gallon, according to the report, and affordability is a major issue for voters ahead of November’s mid-term elections. On Monday, Brent crude was $92 a barrel.

Last week, Bessent also said the US government would intervene in bond markets by buying back more government debt to boost demand and lower borrowing rates, but officials said long-term borrowing costs rose again the day after.

Iran’s economy is already subject to tough US sanctions. In 2015, Barack Obama and several allies agreed a deal with Iran that lifted many sanctions in return for limits on Iran’s nuclear programme. Trump pulled the US out of the agreement in 2018 and reinstated sanctions, calling the deal “defective at its core”. During Joe Biden’s presidency, attempts to revive the arrangement did not succeed.

In April, the Trump administration imposed further sanctions on foreign banks and firms doing business with Tehran after it became clear that military operations had not led the Iranian regime to back down.

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25 August 2026

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China not included.

Or any country that pays off Donnie through "quiet diplomacy" 😭

Edited Monday at 10:07 PM1 day by SiSePuede419
Quiet Diplomacy = Blackmail

The most divisive figure of our time continues to split the world.

US sanctions on Iran are billed as “maximum pressure”, but I suggest the fallout will only show maximum division.

China will secure cheap crude and lock Iran into greater dependency. Meanwhile, Russia will cash in on surging revenues, and Gulf exporters like Saudi Arabia and the UAE too will rake in record profits.

Major US oil companies will also be big winners while ordinary US voters will continue to be punished with gasoline above $4. Likewise, Europe and Asia will have to absorb higher inflation.

Trump’s sanctions won’t isolate Iran, they'll isolate the West’s own consumers.

The only country in isolation at the moment is the USA.

What always puzzles me, is if these sanctions are so all singing, all dancing and will crush the regime.....why have not been in place since forever?

It is the same with Russia/UK.....Russia does something and the politicians jump up and down screaming further sanctions to be imposed....then six months later...rinse and repeat....????

China and Russia as well as many other countries will not go along with these sanctions so they will not achieve their aim..will just further galvanise BRICS to become stronger and hasten the demise of the 'petro Dollar'

Good, let's hope they work and the IRGC go bankrupt!

The big difference is the USA has stopped all Iranian oil moving via ship and that squeeze is just taking hold. Too bad the USA loosened up during the first 30 days of the cease fire. Iran took full advantage of shipping oil then.

It’s like you going over to your neighbors kid and ordering him to cut your grass or else he won’t get his allowance. The kid responds but I get my allowance from my dad not you.

23 minutes ago, Showtime said:

The big difference is the USA has stopped all Iranian oil moving via ship and that squeeze is just taking hold. Too bad the USA loosened up during the first 30 days of the cease fire. Iran took full advantage of shipping oil then.

Not all Iranian oil has been stopped but volume has certainly plummeted. It has been reported that Iran export about 287,000 barrels through their shadow fleet, turning off tracking transponders and doing ship to ship transfers. Iran can also use alternate ports and overland routes to move its oil. The 30 days window gave Iran the opportunity to move out 140 million barrels to storage tankers. Some analysts put the number as high as 170 million barrels on water.

5 hours ago, webfact said:

warned that any country seeking to partner financially with Iran would face isolation.

Good luck with China and India.

It’s time for global sanctions against he US!

The Trump administration’s much-touted economic offensive against Iran has come under fierce criticism after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stopped short of announcing measures targeting China, despite Beijing’s deep economic relationship with Tehran.

Strategic studies professor Phillips O’Brien described the outcome as “a total fold by the USA”, arguing Washington had backed away from the confrontation needed to make its pressure campaign bite.

The sanctions threat meets a hard limit

Bessent had been expected to outline the economic measures behind President Donald Trump’s “Economic D-Day” approach to Iran. Instead, his remarks offered few concrete details about who would face sanctions, while he warned that Washington would seek to “sever every economic lifeline” available to Tehran.

The problem is China. Beijing is the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, meaning any serious attempt to cripple Iran’s economy risks provoking a confrontation with one of America’s most important global rivals.

Bessent acknowledged the dilemma, saying: “Why would I want to blow up the global financial system?”

O’Brien delivers a brutal verdict

Before the announcement, O’Brien had warned that Washington would have to target China if it genuinely intended to impose crippling sanctions on Iran. When that did not happen, he compared the outcome to the 1876 Battle of Little Bighorn, where US forces suffered a decisive defeat.

“A total fold by the USA,” he declared afterwards, calling it a “sanction Little Bighorn”.

The criticism goes beyond one Treasury briefing. O’Brien argues that Trump’s Iran strategy has exposed wider limits to American power, after the president reportedly expected the conflict to produce a rapid collapse of Iran’s leadership.

The pressure now shifts to Beijing

The administration is caught between its promise to impose maximum economic pressure and the consequences of enforcing it against Chinese buyers.

Trump’s wider foreign policy is also under scrutiny, with critics arguing that prolonged conflict has strained US military resources and created opportunities for China elsewhere.

For now, Washington is threatening economic escalation while avoiding the step that could make the campaign genuinely disruptive: taking on China itself.

The humiliating depth of Trump's surrender was just revealed: analysis

The US has expanded sanctions aimed at choking Iran’s economy, but Washington has stopped short of its most explosive move: directly targeting China, the biggest buyer of Iranian oil.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned countries to cut business ties with Tehran or risk losing access to the dollar-based financial system. But punishing Chinese banks could trigger retaliation from Beijing just weeks before Donald Trump is expected to meet President Xi Jinping.

China’s oil lifeline is already shrinking

Chinese purchases of Iranian crude have fallen sharply since the US renewed its blockade of Iranian ships and ports. Imports averaged around 1.57 million barrels a day in February but dropped to 823,000 in July, with provisional August figures falling further to about 534,000 barrels a day.

Yet China remains crucial to Tehran. Independent “teapot” refineries have continued buying discounted Iranian crude, often through complex networks of intermediaries and with transactions settled in Chinese currency.

Washington has already tried to squeeze Beijing

The US has sanctioned smaller Chinese refiners and shipping companies accused of handling Iranian oil, while warning major Chinese banks they could face secondary sanctions.

In April, Washington targeted Hengli Petrochemical and dozens of shipping firms and vessels over alleged Iranian oil purchases. Hengli has denied buying Iranian crude.

Despite those measures, Iranian oil has continued reaching China, exposing the limits of Washington’s campaign.

The next move could trigger a showdown

Bessent sought to make clear that Chinese institutions are not beyond Washington’s reach. “No one is above the reach of US sanctions,” he said.

But Beijing has already warned it will protect its interests and rejected unilateral US sanctions. Any move against major Chinese banks could provoke retaliation, potentially threatening Chinese exports of critical minerals and complicating the wider US-China relationship.

Tehran sees an opening

Iran has dismissed the new measures as an economic attack and insists China and Russia have not accepted them.

The pressure campaign is therefore entering a dangerous phase. Washington wants to choke Iran’s oil revenues, but the harder it pushes, the greater the risk of turning an economic war with Tehran into a much wider confrontation with Beijing.

China is the biggest buyer of Iran’s oil. Could US sanctions threaten those ties?

Going to find out who's naughty or nice.This boils down to a clear test, align with a regime backing state sponsored terror, or stand with those enforcing security in the Strait and stopping nuke expansion.