The United States Treasury designated more than 60 individuals, entities and vessels on Monday in Washington under a campaign it has named Operation Economic Outcast, and threatened to cut off third country firms that keep trading with Iran.
The designations reach into the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Switzerland. Treasury said they cover five sectors: digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping. The listed parties are accused of helping Iran obtain nuclear material, run cyber operations, or convert oil into revenue.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the objective was "to sever every economic lifeline that sustains this tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone", and that "no one is above the reach of US sanctions".
The heavier measures were not imposed. Asked why the announcement stopped short of the penalties officials had briefed as an economic D-Day, Bessent said: "Well, we are giving everyone the opportunity to remedy bad behaviour. Why would I want to blow up the global financial system?" Countries and companies were put on notice rather than cut off.
That distinction is the operative part for anyone outside the United States. Secondary sanctions work by denying access to the dollar based financial system to firms in third countries, so the exposure lands on businesses and banks that are not American and were never party to the policy. Bessent said partners would be targeted if they "facilitate transactions and are part of the ecosystem that turns Iranian oil into money".
Australia runs its own sanctions on Iran and they are not the same instrument. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade administers an autonomous framework alongside the United Nations Security Council measures, and in February this year the government added 20 individuals and three entities linked to Iran's security apparatus, including people associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Australian law binds Australian citizens and Australian registered companies wherever they operate, with penalties up to ten years imprisonment. The Australian Sanctions Office has issued an advisory note on the risks attached to incoming funds from Iran.
An Australian company can therefore be compliant with Australian law and still be exposed to a US designation, because the two regimes list different parties and the American one reaches counterparties that Canberra has not listed.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said economic pressure "hurts them the most right now".
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed the announcement as a repeat of existing pressure, describing the measures as "the same old plans".
The campaign comes close to six months into the war Iran is fighting with the United States and Israel. Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains disrupted and talks have stalled. The secondary sanctions Bessent described were announced as a threat on Monday, not imposed.
