The United States has unveiled a new wave of illegal sanctions against Iran under the so-called “Operation Economic Outcast,” threatening secondary penalties against any country or entity maintaining trade ties with Tehran in a failed attempt to achieve through economic coercion what its military aggression could not.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday announced the new “economic terrorism” campaign, absurdly comparing it to the D-Day Normandy landings of World War II.
Bessent claimed the measures target Iran’s financial networks worldwide and warned that no partner is beyond Washington’s reach.
He said the Trump administration has identified entities dealing with Iran and will impose deadlines for them to cut ties or face exclusion from the US dollar system.
New sectoral measures expand secondary sanctions risks in areas such as digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping, while sanctioning around 60 entities, individuals and vessels helping facilitate Iranian trade.
The announcement comes amid clear signs of American desperation after months of unsuccessful military offensive and a naval blockade that has failed to break Iran’s resolve.
China, Iran’s largest trading partner, has already rejected the approach. Beijing’s embassy in Washington stated that “sanctions and pressure do not help resolve the problem” and called for political and diplomatic solutions instead.
Iran has firmly rejected the illegal measures as economic terrorism and crimes against humanity.
Senator Murphy slams new sanctions as ‘desperate window dressing’ to mask US military failures
Even within the US, the move has drawn sharp criticism as empty bluster. Senator Chris Murphy described the “D-Day” rhetoric as “desperate window dressing” to mask Washington’s military failures.
He noted that Iran now controls the Strait of Hormuz, retains most of its missile capabilities, and holds all the leverage after the US “fired everything” it had.
Murphy argued that existing sanctions have already exhausted options and that the new measures will not alter Tehran’s position.
The successive US administrations have resorted to economic warfare as a tool of collective punishment against the Iranian people, in blatant violation of international law.
Previous rounds of sanctions have also targeted civilians’ basic rights, including access to medicine. Iranian courts have even ordered compensation for affected patients to be paid from proceeds of seized US assets. The latest illegal sanctions expose the bankruptcy of American policy.
