by Steven Richards
The measures, which the Treasury Secretary first teased last week, are designed to punish “enablers” of Iran that purchase its oil and facilitate financial flows.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Monday a new raft of sanctions targeting the Iranian regime dubbed “Operation Economic Outcast,” which he compared to the historic D-Day landings during World War II.
“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,” Bessent told reporters at a 1:00 PM press conference.
These new measures are designed to ramp up pressure on Iran’s "enablers," which Bessent has called out for purchasing Iran’s petroleum products, allowing their financial systems and banks to facilitate transfers of Iranian funds, and allowing Iran’s shadow fleet to transfer oil products in their territorial waters. Bessent and President Donald Trump indicated last week that the United States planned to shift to a comprehensive economic blockade of the Islamic Republic, hoping to strangle the regime by cutting off its economic lifelines.
“We are enforcing a zero leakage approach. There will be no minimal breathing space for the regime to rebuild its capacity to inflict terror against America and the world,” the secretary said. “The final refuge of this regime is the mistaken conclusion of nations that still finance the Iranian threat in the hopes of evading it. It is no longer acceptable to operate in the gray spaces of this conflict. Countries cannot claim they are blind to enabling this activity.”
The sanctions, Bessent said, are designed to target five of Iran’s lifelines during the conflict: “digital assets, technology, gold, aviation, and shipping.”
The Treasury Department will sanction “over 60 entities, individuals, and vessels” globally that officials believe enable Iran to purchase nuclear and missile technology, carry out cyber operations, and allow it to generate oil revenue.
Bessent said that President Trump is currently calling world leaders with American expectations that they act to cut off Iran’s lifelines, however, the secretary said that the names of leaders and countries the president has approached will remain secret during negotiations. China, one of Iran’s largest trading partners and purchasers of Iranian oil before the conflict, would likely face action from the Treasury’s new sanctions.
China has purchased the vast majority of Iranian oil for years, even while its exports are under international sanctions. Chinese banks and front companies help Iran with oil transactions to avoid the sanctions and operate ships in a shadow fleet to transport the sanctioned oil, according to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. China has also sold Iran the technology and inputs required to construct its fleet of attack drones and missiles.
Last week, Treasury Secretary Bessent on Thursday urged Beijing to “get with the program” and support the United States’ planned economic blockade.
Steven Richards
Source: https://justthenews.com/government/diplomacy/bessent-unveils-economic-operation-economic-outcast-sanctions-targeting
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