NEW YORK -- US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday threatened Iran with "an economic D-Day," announcing a wave of new sanctions aimed at further isolating the country.
"We are launching an economic onslaught against Iran's financial connections around the globe," said Bessent at a press conference. "Our objective is to sever every economic lifeline" that sustains the country, he said.
The US Treasury Department said in a press release that the new sectoral sanctions determinations target five critical sectors -- digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping -- that the US says Iran has relied on to prop up its economy.
The measures marked the beginning of "a sustained and systematic campaign to close every financial resource" that supports Iran, the department said. It added that "any entity that facilitates money laundering or sanctions evasion on behalf of Iran risks being cut off from the US financial system."
The department is expanding the categories of "Iran-related conduct" that the United States might sanction in the future, and said "every country will be given a defined timeline to shut down the Iran-related activity" the United States has identified.
