Bessent Says New Iran Sanctions Targeting Banks Expected to Start This Week

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sept. 1 that the United States will unveil new Iran sanctions targeting banks this week as part of the administration’s pressure campaign to isolate Tehran from the global financial system.

Bessent outlined the contours of the Treasury’s Operation Economic Outcast late last month, a new package that expands Washington’s sanctions authority.

“We are probably going to ​announce a ​bank ​sanction this ‌week, and we will announce one the week after,” Bessent told Fox Business host Larry Kudlow in Asheville, North Carolina, during the G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank leaders.

The United States has “zero tolerance” for Iran, Bessent said, and the latest measures will “economically asphyxiate this regime.”

Iran is facing “extreme distress” economically and militarily, he added. The Iranian rial has collapsed, the government is rapidly printing money to pay its bills, and industries are being eviscerated.

He said that the White House has been engaged with U.S. allies. Several partners, including the European Union, noted that they have been working closely with the administration to intensify pressure on Iran.

Last week’s announcement included secondary sanctions to deter other countries from conducting commerce with Iran.

The United States could target “anyone who does business with the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps],” whether banks or airline leasing companies.

“We are tracking down the IRGC’s assets,” Bessent told Kudlow.

“I will say it on worldwide TV. Just so you know, we know where the British Virgin Islands air accounts are at these trust companies. We know the 100-million-dollar houses you have around the world. We are going to freeze those.”

New Strikes on Iran

Bessent’s comments come as the U.S. military launched new attacks on Iranian targets near the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. Central Command said in a post on X.

The latest strikes were in response to the IRGC’s attempted attacks against commercial shipping vessels and U.S. service members deployed in the region.

Global energy markets surged following the attacks.

U.S. crude oil prices surged more than $4, or almost 5 percent, to $90 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The global Brent benchmark also climbed nearly $4, or more than 4 percent, to above $94 a barrel in overseas trading.

Ongoing tensions in the Middle East are disrupting traffic in the Gulf channel, contributing to this year’s spike in oil prices.

But Bessent believes the Strait of Hormuz “will be a worthless piece of water” on the other side of the conflict, alluding to the construction of numerous land-based pipelines.

“We have to de-risk every part of the world,” Bessent said.

In recent weeks, scores of Gulf producers have announced plans to expand pipeline capacity or build new pipelines, ports, and terminals to bypass the narrow waterway.

Additionally, the United States brokered a deal between Iraq and Syria in July that restores an oil pipeline that had been shuttered since 2003.

President Donald Trump announced a new oil deal with Venezuela on Aug. 28, giving the United States majority control over the South American country’s 65 billion barrels of proven crude reserves.

While the president said this would lower gasoline prices, experts say it might not materialize for some time.

“Over the weekend, the Trump administration struck a major deal with Venezuela, a signal that the White House remains concerned about elevated fuel prices — though in reality, any benefits from increased Venezuelan output will take years to fully materialize and are unlikely to move the needle in the near term,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in an Aug. 31 note.

The U.S.-Iran conflict and Ukraine’s continued attacks on Russian oil refineries will likely have the most immediate effect on pump prices, De Haan added.

As of Sept. 1, the national average price for a gallon of gas is firmly above $4, according to the American Automobile Association.

Emel Akan, Timothy Frudd, and Tom Gantert contributed to this report.