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You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Bessent Unveils Sweeping Campaign of Sanctions on Iran

Bessent Unveils Sweeping Campaign of Sanctions on Iran

August 24, 2026 at 1:55 pm ET By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday unveiled a sweeping campaign of financial sanctions and diplomatic pressure designed to sever Iran’s remaining links to the global economy,” the Washington Post reports.

“Dubbed ‘Operation Economic Outcast,’ the initiative is aimed at closing loopholes in the existing U.S. financial dragnet. The Trump administration has repeatedly put sanctions on foreign companies involved in the oil trade that represents Iran’s principal source of revenue even as its military campaign against Tehran has flirted with stalemate.”

“President Donald Trump is contacting other world leaders to demand that they support the United States in seeking the ‘economic asphyxiation of this regime.'”

Bloomberg: Bessent unveils plan to sever Iran access to global economy.

Filed Under: Foreign Affairs, White House

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About Political Wire

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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