The European Union has formally joined the U.S.-led sanctions campaign known as “Operation Economic Outcast,” a move that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent praised as a strong and early show of support as Washington intensifies economic pressure on Tehran.
In a social media post Thursday evening, Bessent welcomed the bloc’s endorsement, saying: “The world is sending a clear message to the Iranian regime: We will not stop until every remaining financial lifeline has been severed.” He also reiterated that the United States stands firm with allies to prevent Iran from using the global financial system to fund its nuclear ambitions, weapons programs, and terror proxies.
The EU’s endorsement came in a statement on Aug. 31, in which Brussels said it supported efforts to stop what it called Iran’s “destabilizing activities” and to resume peace talks, including through the operation to apply additional economic pressure. The announcement coincided with the meeting of Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governors held earlier this week in Asheville, North Carolina.
The Trump administration launched the campaign in late August, targeting Iran’s access to digital assets, advanced technology procurement, gold reserves, commercial aviation, and shipping. Bessent framed the initiative as an “economic onslaught” on Iran’s global financial connections, warning that countries aiding Tehran “should expect to share in the isolation of a withering regime.”
Iran quickly pushed back. Foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei blasted the EU’s move on Sept. 1, accusing the bloc of having “surrendered its sovereignty, its laws and regulations, values and ethics to U.S. coercion” and calling Washington’s policy “economic terrorism.”
China, Iran’s largest trading partner, buys roughly 90% of Iran’s sanctioned crude exports before the war, according to the source. The EU maintains its own separate sanctions regime targeting Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs as well as its military support for Russia.
Bessent had signaled before the summit that he would press G20 counterparts to cut financial ties with Tehran or face secondary sanctions. He also indicated new secondary sanctions would be introduced each week, with an initial focus on banks, and warned that institutions facilitating Iran-related transactions could be cut off entirely from the dollar-based financial system.
The economic campaign unfolds against a backdrop of renewed military hostilities. The U.S. military conducted a new wave of strikes earlier this week against military targets in Iran in retaliation for attacks on ships and American forces in the region. Iran has responded by launching missiles at U.S. military bases across the Middle East.
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz — a key chokepoint for about a fifth of global oil flows before the war — remains subdued. Iran has launched periodic strikes on vessels using the southern shipping lane near the Omani coast. The U.S. has maintained a naval blockade in the strait, blocking vessels entering or leaving Iranian ports to stall the country’s crude exports. According to U.S. Central Command, as of Friday, 87 commercial vessels have been redirected, three disabled, and two boarded to ensure full compliance.
Source: www.cnbc.com — https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/04/us-iran-war-trump-hormuz-operation-economic-outcast-sanctions-campaign.html
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