WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday imposed sanctions on nearly 60 entities, individuals and vessels tied to Iran's oil-evasion networks and warned foreign banks and companies that any refusal to sever ties with Tehran would cost them access to the U.S. dollar, filling in the "economic D-Day" package the Trump administration had trailed for a week.
The measures, which the Treasury has branded "Operation Economic Outcast," extend U.S. penalties across five sectors — digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping — and lean on secondary sanctions against third-country enablers to compress the roughly 90 percent of Iranian crude that still flows to China. Beijing warned within hours it would retaliate. Tehran said it was ready. The rollout gave specific shape to a campaign the administration had spent the past week billing as an "economic D-Day" and drew immediate counter-moves from the two governments most central to whether it works.
What Beijing said
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said Beijing was firmly opposed to what he called "illegal unilateral sanctions" and would take "all necessary measures" to safeguard its rights. "Cooperation between China and Iran has always been conducted within the framework of international law and should not be interfered with or disrupted," Lin said. Pressed on whether Chinese banks were exposed, Bessent said "no one was above the reach of US sanctions." Washington is likely wary of retaliation from Beijing, the BBC noted, given that China processes the majority of the world's rare earths and other critical minerals.
What the measures do
Bessent called the package "the single greatest financial offensive ever" against Iran and said it would "tighten the noose and block every potential source of revenue." He said President Trump would be phoning world leaders "with specific requests to cease their interactions with the regime" and warned that governments and entities that keep trading with Iran could not "claim they are blind to enabling this activity." Bessent said America was "no longer managing the Iranian threat, we are ending it." The Treasury issued determinations against digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping — the five sectors it says Iran has used to evade prior restrictions.
Tehran's answer
Iranian Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh said Tehran was "fully prepared" and that the sanctions would deliver "another defeat" to the United States. "The government is and was ready and has a two-year plan to manage these events," Madanizadeh told state television, adding that Tehran had been "waiting for these plans for a long time." He said Iran had "our own tools and know how to play the game." Iran's rial fell to an all-time low of 2.02 million to the U.S. dollar hours before Bessent spoke, Fox News reported.
The skeptical case
Analysts warned the direct hit to Iranian revenues may be modest. David Oxley, chief climate and commodities economist at Capital Economics, told the BBC the effect would be "somewhat of a damp squib." "We suspect that the new package will have only a limited direct impact on Iranian energy flows in the short term," Oxley said, noting that roughly 90 percent of Iran's oil goes to China, "which has not recognised US sanctions in the past and is unlikely to be cowed this time either." Ali Vaez, deputy director of the International Crisis Group's Middle East and North Africa program, told BBC Radio 4 that Beijing has always seen unilateral U.S. sanctions as "illegitimate," and that Iran's neighbors Pakistan, Turkey and Iraq "can't really afford to cut off ties with Iran."
Trump is scheduled to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping next month. Bessent said the Treasury would "move very quickly" against those who ignore the designations. A barrel of Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was $92 on Monday.