US Escalates Economic Pressure on Iran with Operation Economic Outcast

Washington's new Iran sanctions aim to exert economic pressure on Tehran, but they reveal more than America would like. The US has announced Operation Economic Outcast, a whole-of-government campaign against Iran, comparing it to D-Day in its effort to end 'the Iranian threat.'

The US Treasury has expanded the scope of potential secondary sanctions across five areas: digital assets, technology, gold, aviation, and shipping. This move adds nearly 60 companies, individuals, and vessels to the Office of Foreign Assets Control's sanctions lists over alleged links to Iranian oil revenue, procurement for missile and nuclear programs, cyberoperations, and the activities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The new sectoral determinations do not mean that every foreign company conducting a transaction with an Iranian counterpart will automatically be sanctioned. Instead, they provide the US administration with legal grounds for future enforcement, while specific penalties will continue to be imposed selectively.