The U.S. Department of Treasury’s Operation Economic Outcast is pressuring the remainder of Iran’s shadow fleet with new sanctions, continuing the Trump administration’s effort to stop billions of dollars’ worth of oil and petroleum products from moving through the country’s aging network of off-the-books tankers.
Treasury says the Iranian regime is running out of options to stabilize their economy due to the U.S. military blockade.
“Treasury is starving the tyrannical regime in Tehran of the money it uses to wage war in the region, and we will continue exposing those who enable the regime’s oil sales,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in a statement Thursday. “No enabler of Iranian sanctions evasion is safe from the full force of Treasury’s authorities.”
WATCH — Exclusive – Bessent on Further Iran Sanctions: “The Snake’s Dead But it Doesn’t Know Its Dead”:
Formally announced on August 24, Operation Economic Outcast is an “economic onslaught” designed to isolate Iran from the global economy. Secretary Bessent warned that countries and companies doing business with Tehran risks provoking U.S. sanctions, through which multiple banks and other entities have already suffered consequences.
Additionally, this week, Bessent said for the first time in history the nation will have no oil revenue.
Actions taken today include Treasury identifying 17 ships responsible for transporting Iranian crude oil destined to markets in South and East Asia, including China. The vessels involved, registered across more than a dozen jurisdictions, are still evading U.S. sanctions.
The maritime ecosystem the regime is using is fluid, officials said, and vessels constantly enter and exit the network. The department says it will continue to monitor, identify, and disrupt attempts at sanctions evasion.
In early September, U.S. armed forces destroyed five shadow fleet tankers after Iran twice targeted an American warship with ballistic missiles.
Follow Matt Mercer on X: @mattmercer.