The United States has stepped up pressure in recent weeks on Iran’s trade partners in the Middle East and Europe, asking them to choose between continuing to deal with Tehran and maintaining their economic ties with Washington, as part of a campaign spanning more than 50 countries and targeting Iran’s remaining financial and commercial channels.
Pressure on banks and airlines
Jonathan Burke, the U.S. assistant secretary of the Treasury for terrorist financing, toured countries in the Middle East and Europe this month, warning that continuing to trade with Iran could expose countries and institutions to U.S. measures.
Burke said Washington was seeing a “new sense of urgency” among its partners in addressing U.S. demands, indicating that they were taking the warnings more seriously.
The talks focused on flights operated by Iranian airline Mahan Air, which is under U.S. sanctions and accused by Washington of ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as well as other Iranian airlines. They also addressed a ban on financial transactions with branches of Bank Melli Iran, the country’s largest commercial bank, and the withdrawal of licenses from other Iranian banks, including Bank Mellat.
Burke held meetings with British officials as Britain announced that it would not renew exemptions allowing some Iranian banks to continue operating, adding to pressure on Tehran’s remaining financial channels in Europe. Azerbaijan and Georgia also took measures restricting Iranian airlines’ access to their territories.
Sanctions under “Operation Economic Outcast”
The moves are part of “Operation Economic Outcast,” launched by the U.S. Treasury Department last August to cut off what Washington describes as Iran’s remaining financial and commercial channels and expand secondary sanctions on entities that continue to deal with it.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the department had imposed targeted financial measures on banks and aviation service providers after the operation was launched, and had sent teams to various countries to urge governments to take action against Iran.
The U.S. Treasury Department announced broad sanctions on September 8 targeting Iran’s aviation sector and foreign companies and intermediaries providing services to it, warning entities that continued to deal with Iranian airlines that they could face U.S. sanctions.
Bessent said Iran’s leadership had acknowledged the economic cost of the war, pointing to the Iranian currency’s decline to record lows. He added that there was “more to do” to prevent Tehran from carrying out what he described as its “terrorist agenda.”
Tehran seeks to ease pressure
The campaign coincided with Iranian diplomatic efforts to ease the economic pressure, as Tehran put forward proposals in recent days to halt the fighting and relax the restrictions imposed on it, including an offer of a 7-day truce in exchange for U.S. economic and security measures.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in an address to the United Nations General Assembly that the sanctions had affected his country, stressing that Iran would not yield to U.S. pressure and that the sanctions would strengthen the resistance of the Iranian people.
