The Donald Trump administration has triggered a large-scale "secondary boycott (third-party sanctions)" that sanctions even third countries that have a transaction with Iran, declaring it will "completely cut off the lifeline of Iran's economy." The Middle East crisis, which began with an armed clash, is expanding into a full-scale economic war on the world's major countries. Iran immediately countered that it has drawn up a two-year domestic economic defense plan and is fully prepared for the sweeping sanctions imposed by the United States.
According to a compilation of major media reports on the 24th (local time), U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent held a news conference at the Treasury Department building in Washington and announced a new package of sanctions against Iran. Minister Bessent warned, "There is no ambiguity about the U.S. position," and "anyone who engages in any form of economic exchange with the murderous Iranian regime will be exposed to the full reach of American power."
The United States has named this measure Operation Economic Outcast. The operation aims for Iran's complete economic isolation. Major sanction targets include third countries that have a transaction with Iran in sectors such as digital assets including cryptocurrency, advanced technology, gold, aviation, and shipping. The Treasury on this day added more than 60 organizations, individuals, and vessels worldwide to a new sanctions list for providing nuclear and ballistic missile technology to the Iranian regime and helping the regime generate illegal oil revenue. A hacker group directed by Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security, and a shadow fleet network transporting Iranian crude from places including the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, and Switzerland were also newly included on the sanctions list.
Minister Bessent said, "Our goal is to cut every economic lifeline that props up this tyrannical regime and to isolate Tehran completely," adding, "If there is no action, we will take unilateral measures under Treasury authority."
Iran has since Feb. 28, after the start of the Iran war, hunkered down using the Strait of Hormuz as leverage. As the deadline approached for military operations without congressional approval, the Trump administration shifted strategy to financial squeeze–style economic sanctions. President Trump wrote on social media that "Iran is collapsing completely" on this day. Minister Bessent also said, "President Trump is personally calling leaders around the world to ask them to stop exchanges with the Iranian regime."
The United States plans to pressure countries to close overseas branches of Melli Bank, Iran's largest state-owned bank. Any institution that helps launder money on Iran's behalf will be expelled from the U.S. dollar system without exception. Minister Bessent also warned Chinese banks involved in transactions of Iranian crude, saying, "No one can be exempt from U.S. sanctions."
Iran pushed back, saying it would not be shaken by the U.S.-led economic isolation operation. Ali Madanizadeh, Iran's Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance, said in a state-run Mehr News interview on the 24th, "They (the United States) will not be able to sever our economic arteries." Minister Madanizadeh said, "The government has long planned to counter U.S. sanctions and is fully prepared to face the new sanctions," adding, "The government has drawn up a two-year economic plan, and all countermeasures are included in this plan." He acknowledged that the steel and petrochemical industries in Iran suffered significant damage from the war, but added, "We succeeded in restarting damaged facilities in a short period." Iran's Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance added that it urgently supported funds of about 800 trillion toman (about 1.7 trillion won) to prevent mass unemployment affecting about 600,000 people in Iran, and that the current monthly inflation rate has fallen to half the level at the start of the war.
Iran's hard-line leadership also vowed a fight to the end. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary-general of the Supreme National Security Council, said, "Any country that participates in the economic war waged by the United States will be regarded as an enemy." Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi likewise played it down, saying, "Economic war is a script that has been repeated and an old tactic."
But despite the confidence shown by the leadership, the reality facing Iran's economy remains bleak. After suffering from chronic inflation and economic hardship, the value of the Iranian rial fell to 2.02 million rials per dollar on the 24th in the unofficial foreign exchange market as the U.S. sanctions measures landed on this day. Reuters said this is a record low. Experts said that if the new economic sanctions also block crude oil exports, which account for an overwhelming share of Iran's economic income, it will be hard to avoid internal economic collapse.
Some said that even if this sanctions net is woven tightly, the key question is whether the United States can actually exert strong pressure on China, which buys 90% of exports of Iranian crude. CNN said the Trump administration threatened to impose deadly new sanctions on countries that refuse to sever economic ties with Iran, but did not actually impose a large number of new sanctions.