US threatens secondary sanctions on companies doing business with Iran

The United States has threatened new sanctions on countries and entities that do business with Iran, a move meant to isolate the country economically.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on the new campaign, called "Operation Economic Outcast", at a news conference on Monday.

"We are launching an economic onslaught against Iran's financial connections around the globe," with the objective "to sever every economic lifeline" that sustains the country, Bessent said.

The US Treasury has identified five key sectors — digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping — and is threatening to sanction any person, regardless of where they are located, that operates in these sectors of the Iranian economy.

The Treasury Department expanded the categories of activities for which the US may impose secondary sanctions on countries and entities that continue to do business with Iran.

"Any entity that facilitates money laundering or sanctions evasion on behalf of Iran risks being cut off from the US financial system," the department said in a news release. 

After Bessent threatened the new sanctions, Iranian Parliament Speaker and top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said that the US is not in an economic position to restrict its relations with other countries, according to CNN.

The US' latest move comes after recent rhetoric from Bessent and US President Donald Trump that threatened an "economic D-Day" for Iran.

After months of military strikes, a blockade of Iranian ports and ineffective diplomatic talks, the US launched the economic campaign to try to end an increasingly unpopular war that has stretched into its sixth month.

Since the war started, global energy markets have been disrupted, gas prices in the US have risen, and many Republicans worry that the ongoing war with Iran could hurt their chances in the upcoming midterm elections.