US launches ‘Operation Economic Outcast’ to isolate Iran

• The Trump administration has unveiled ‘Operation Economic Outcast’, a sweeping package aimed at Iran’s aviation, digital assets, gold, technology and shipping sectors. 

• US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced secondary penalties on nearly 60 entities, individuals and vessels across the globe accused of facilitating Iranian trade.

• Operation Economic Outcast will sever the economic lifelines that sustain the Iranian regime and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

• Every country will be given a defined timeline to shut down Iran-related activity.

• Countries continuing to trade with Iran could risk being cut off from the US financial system.

• The war that began on February 28 is about to hit its six-month mark.

• In June, Iran and the US signed an interim deal in June aimed at ending the war. However, it quickly faltered.

• The US has maintained sanctions against Iran for decades, most of which have been aimed at curtailing the country’s oil revenues, acquisition of weapons components and cutting off funding for business enterprises.

• Iran has weathered decades of crushing international sanctions, and before the war it continued to export millions of barrels of oil, mostly to China, and to evade sanctions through complex international financial networks.

• Iran promised to retaliate against the new US sanctions. Tehran expressed confidence that major trading partners would resist Washington’s pressure campaign.