The Trump administration is preparing another round of banking sanctions against Iran this week as Washington intensifies its effort to cut Tehran off from the global financial system, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday.

Speaking to The Associated Press, Bessent said the administration is prepared to use aggressive financial measures to pressure Iran and those facilitating its access to international markets.

“This is going to be financial violence if we have to,” Bessent said in the interview. “We are showing people that we know who you are, you know who you are, and this has got to stop.”

Bessent made the remarks ahead of Group of 20 meetings in Asheville, North Carolina, where he is expected to meet individually with finance officials from major global economies as well as developing countries. Winning broader international support for the campaign to economically isolate Iran is expected to be a central subject of those discussions.

As the war with Iran approaches its sixth month, the Trump administration has increasingly turned to financial pressure as another major front in the conflict. U.S. officials have labeled the expanding effort an “economic D-Day” against Tehran, building upon sanctions that Washington has maintained against Iran for decades.

Last week, Bessent unveiled “Operation Economic Outcast,” an initiative aimed at further restricting Iran’s access to money and isolating its government from the international financial system. The United States later announced additional sanctions targeting UAE branches of Egypt’s Banque Misr.

As part of the Treasury Department’s proposed action, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, known as FinCEN, would prohibit Banque Misr UAE from maintaining correspondent banking relationships with American financial institutions. Such a move would significantly restrict the bank’s ability to process dollar-denominated transactions connected to Iran.

The administration has thus far largely relied on warnings to governments that continue doing business with Tehran instead of imposing sweeping new sanctions against those countries. China presents one of Washington’s most significant challenges because it remains Iran’s largest trading partner and the leading buyer of Iranian oil.

Bessent told AP that he intends to address China’s continued purchases of Iranian oil directly with Chinese officials during the G20 gathering. Asked about possible U.S. sanctions against Beijing over that trade, he said “all options are on the table.”

The Treasury secretary also pushed back against claims that the Trump administration has been reluctant to challenge China over its economic relationship with Tehran, calling that characterization “a completely false narrative that the media picked up on.”

Despite the tensions over Iranian oil, Bessent said the United States and China have overlapping interests in two critical areas: restoring navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and ensuring that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon.

{Matzav.com}