The United States just upped the ante on Iran, as Operation Economic Outcast, spearheaded by the Treasury Department and Secretary Scott Bessent, just successfully brought the European Union into the sanctions campaign.
With the EU on board, the pressure on Tehran shifts from a U.S.-led campaign to a genuine transatlantic one, tightening the financial noose around Iran’s oil exports, banking channels, and procurement networks. The move marks a somewhat profound shift in the alliance between the United States and its European allies, as most of these countries were reluctant to do much while military strikes were underway.
However, since this move requires no military commitment, it seems this was the kind of genuine action our allies are actually willing to take.
🚨 BREAKING: The EUROPEAN UNION has just joined Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent's blockbuster Operation Economic Outcast sanctions program to economically strangle and isolate the Islamic Republican of Iran
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 3, 2026
BESSENT GOT THEM TO DO IT 🔥
Our Treasury Secretary is a juggernaut!… pic.twitter.com/5UCqM8piDe
"The European Union has officially joined Operation Economic Outcast and we appreciate their strong and early stance," the Treasury Secretary wrote on X. "The United States stands firm with our allies in ensuring the murderous Iranian regime cannot exploit the global financial system to fund its nuclear ambitions, weapons programs, and terror proxies. The world is sending a clear message to the Iranian regime: We will not stop until every remaining financial lifeline has been severed."
The European Union has officially joined Operation Economic Outcast and we appreciate their strong and early stance. The United States stands firm with our allies in ensuring the murderous Iranian regime cannot exploit the global financial system to fund its nuclear ambitions,…
— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) September 3, 2026
Operation Economic Outcast has already moved aggressively, with the U.S. Treasury zeroing in on Iran’s financial arteries. According to U.S. officials, the campaign has slashed Iran’s oil export revenues by an estimated 30 to 40 percent since its launch in late August, forcing the regime to rely on steep discounts and barter deals to move its crude while pushing several major Iranian banks to the brink of collapse. Treasury officials say Tehran has responded by scrambling to reroute shipments, leaning harder on sanctioned entities in China and the Gulf, and increasingly turning to crypto and gold to bypass dollar channels.
“They’re bleeding revenue and burning through reserves just to keep the lights on,” one senior administration official told reporters last week. “Every new sanction makes their workaround game more expensive and less effective.”
The move comes shortly after the Trump administration demonstrated its willingness to hit allies with sanctions, making an example of the United Arab Emirates: just last week, the second-largest Egyptian bank operating within the country was cut off from the dollar system. The message was clear: our allies cannot, in any way, directly or indirectly, supply the Iranian regime with a financial lifeline.
The sanction was particularly striking because the U.A.E. had only recently severed all trade with Iran, despite being one of Tehran’s primary trade partners in the region.
The EU’s decision to join Operation Economic Outcast serves as a major move that is bound to accelerate the financial strangulation of the Iranian regime and should hopefully bring a swift end to the leading global sponsor of terror.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are once again respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.
Help us continue to report on the administration’s peace through strength foreign policy and its successes. Join Townhall VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
Join the Conversation
VIP members get the ability to comment on articles.