At a press conference, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the launch of Operation Rogue Economic against Tehran: its goal is to completely isolate the Iranian economy. Washington promises to introduce secondary sanctions against countries trading with the Islamic Republic.
Any organization that “facilitates Iranian money laundering” will be excluded from the US dollar system, Bessent said. He said the Treasury Department would “tighten the noose” and take a “zero leakage” approach to stop revenue flowing into Iran's economy.
“Those associated with the Iranian regime should expect isolation,” Bessent added.
According to him, the US Treasury Department will impose sanctions against more than 60 organizations, individuals and vessels around the world through which Iran acquires nuclear and missile technology.
“These measures increase the risk of secondary sanctions for anyone reckless enough to continue to do business with this regime,” the US Treasury secretary said.
The new sanctions target Iran's five “most important financial channels,” Bessent added. Iran is using “digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping” to support its economy, he said. Bessent promised to introduce additional restrictions against these sectors.
“Now Iran faces a completely obvious choice; it has only two options. Complete global isolation and a subsistence economy, or a path to normalcy with the possibility of reconnection with the global economy,” Bessent said.
According to him, US President Donald Trump has already discussed Operation Economic Rogue with heads of foreign states. The head of the Ministry of Finance said that world leaders must “choose between America and Iran.”
Bessent declined to say who exactly Trump was talking to.
Last week, the UAE announced it would halt trade with Iran.
A few hours before the Bessent conference, Trump himself wrote a short post on the Truth Social social network: “Iran is completely destroyed!” In another message, the head of the White House attached a link to the announcement of a “crushing economic blockade that will bring Iran to its knees.”
On Monday, in anticipation of increased sanctions, the Iranian rial rate collapsed to a historic low of more than 2 million per dollar.
The head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council and former commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Mohsen Rezaei, warned that Tehran would block oil exports from the Strait of Hormuz in the event of an economic blockade.
“Iran will view any country's participation in or support of America's economic war against the Iranian people as an act of war,” Rezaei said.
The United States is not in an economic position to restrict other countries, added Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf. According to him, Tehran's trading partners have “made it clear” that they do not take “these statements” from the White House into account. Parodying Team Trump's “Make America Great Again” slogan, Ghalibaf also posted an AI-generated “Make America Hungry Again” poster on X (formerly Twitter). It states that 47 million Americans, including 16 million children, face hunger every day and there is “food insecurity” in the United States.
MAKE AMERICA HUNGRY AGAIN!
You can't cover up defeats with false claims. pic.twitter.com/LBclafRt3B
— محمدباقر قالیباف | MB Ghalibaf (@mb_ghalibaf) August 24, 2026
