Bessent: Trade With Iran Or Leave Dollar System
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- Scott Bessent launched "Operation Economic Outcast" targeting five sectors — technology, gold, aviation, shipping, and digital assets — to choke off virtually every remaining source of hard currency for Iran
- Bessent gave nations a brief "cure period" to stop doing business with Iran, warning that those who do not meet US expectations "should expect" to "leave the dollar system"
- Bessent signaled sanctions against a major financial institution could be announced as soon as next week and declared "no one is above the reach of US sanctions" when asked whether Chinese banks dealing with Iran would be targeted
- China, Turkey, and the UAE — Iran's three biggest trading partners — were the implicit targets, with Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian condemning the policy at a Monday press conference in Beijing as escalation that "serves no one's interests"
- Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi mocked the "economic D-Day" framing, asking on social media why the "largest financial assault in history" and mobilization of "all US institutions" is needed against an Iran whose military has supposedly been "dismantled"
- Gas prices have climbed above $4 per gallon nationally — roughly a dollar more than a year ago — as shipping overwhelmingly avoids the US-supported Strait of Hormuz route, with most vessels following a course set by Tehran or bypassing it entirely
- Analysts including Ryan Costello, Sina Toossi, Alan Eyre, and Peter Schiff argued the campaign amounts to psychological warfare dressed as economic warfare, with Toossi noting "severing every economic lifeline" requires countries like China to enforce a US strategy they openly reject, and Eyre warning it makes the US "an economic outcast"
Why it matters: The administration is betting economic strangulation can deliver what six months of war could not — Iranian capitulation — but the campaign demands unprecedented international compliance from China, Turkey, and the UAE at a moment when US relations are growing more coercive. With gas already above $4 a gallon, Hormuz shipping largely following Tehran's directives, and Iran retaining escalation dominance over the Gulf, the ultimatum escalates pressure on American consumers and allies while analysts warn the strategy could isolate Washington rather than Tehran.
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