Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Monday that the U.S. will impose punishing sanctions on countries and entities that do business with Iran — an attempt to bring the country to heel absent renewed military strikes. Why it matters: The plan, which Bessent dubbed "Operation Economic Outcast," is aimed at ratcheting up pressure on the Iranian regime amid the current "no war, no deal" limbo.

U.S. officials say the expanded "secondary" sanctions are expected to be the main course of action against Iran until at least after the midterm elections, when a new military campaign could again be on the table. What he said: "Let there be no ambiguity as to the position of the United States," Bessent said at a news conference.

"An economic engagement of any kind with this murderous regime will expose those responsible to the full reach of American power." Bessent did not give a deadline for compliance, but said, "I'm not going to set a timeline, but we do not have infinite patience here.

" "No one is above this," Bessent said in response to a question about whether the initiative would encompass China. "This is economic asphyxiation of this regime ... and no one should test our resolve." Zoom in: Bessent said the U.S. is expanding the categories of secondary sanctions to the fields of digital assets, technology, gold, aviation, and shipping.

He said those are all used by Iran to generate revenue, evade sanctions or otherwise mitigate economic pressure. In addition, the Treasury Department sanctioned nearly 60 entities, individuals, and vessels that are involved in illicit procurement of nuclear and missile technology as well as cyber operations and oil smuggling.

The Treasury Department also suspended several licenses it previously issued that allowed certain payments to Iran and Iranian access to U.S. cultural and academic institutions. What to watch: Bessent pledged the Treasury Department will accelerate enforcement of existing and new sanctions.

He said teams from the Departments of Treasury, State, and Defense are starting to engage with counterparts around the world to make clear that the U.S. expects immediate action. Bessent said every country will be given a defined timeline to shut down its Iran-related business activity.

If it fails to do so, the U.S. will impose secondary sanctions. He said that a major financial institution will be sanctioned by the end of this week because it's conducting business with Iran. Bessent noted that President Trump himself is going to call foreign leaders and ask them to stop "specific" trade and business with Iran.

"It is time for world leaders to make a decision ... between America and Iran," Bessent said. Yes, but: While Bessent has been conducting a PR buildup for the last 10 days over an "economic D-Day" against Iran, the reality is more complicated. The U.

S. already has significant secondary sanctions targeting countries that trade with Iran, particularly its oil sector. But the U.S., including the current administration, has only partially enforced them. For the new economic pressure campaign to be effective, the U.

S. will need to mobilize its Western allies to form a coalition to enforce the measures against Iran. The Trump administration will also have to aggressively confront countries like China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey and others that still trade with Iran, something it hasn't done so far.

Reality check: Iran has been under international sanctions for years, but the regime hasn't significantly changed its behavior in the region or its posture regarding its nuclear program. State of play: The war has sunk the Iranian economy into an even deeper crisis.

Its currency, the rial, hit a new low Monday, dropping to 2 million rials to the U.S. dollar. The current U.S. naval blockade has prevented Iran from exporting most of its oil, cutting off the lifeblood of the economy. U.S. officials say Iran is struggling to establish alternative transport routes over land or sea, eroding its ability to provide basic goods and services.

Soaring inflation is driving up food prices. President Trump and other U.S. officials say the regime is struggling to pay the salaries of government workers, including the military and police. "Their system is designed to insulate the elites, but even their purchasing power is plummeting, and some of them — for the first time in their lives — have faced uncertainty about whether their paychecks will arrive on time," a U.

S. official said. The other side: The Iranian leadership has tried to downplay U.S. threats of a new economic isolation push and even threatened to retaliate against countries that cooperate with the sanctions. At the same time, several senior Iranian leaders have acknowledged that the threat of an economic collapse is real.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the government does not deny the economic shortages and stressed that Iran should end the war now, while it is in a position of strength. The speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who is also the country's chief negotiator, said in a meeting with Iranian and Iraqi businessmen in Baghdad last week that Iran will not be able to sustain its security without a strong economy.

"No matter how much military power we have," he said, "if people are hungry and we don't have financial circulation, economic growth and domestic production, we will not endure." Shortly before Bessent's news conference, Ghalibaf wrote on X that the U.

S. "is not in an economic position to further restrict its relations with other countries" that do business with Iran. "Iran's trading partners have made clear, both publicly and in messages sent to us, that they do not take these U.S. statements seriously at all," he added.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced in Kyiv that the U.K. will share classified technical specifications for SCALP missile components with Ukraine to facilitate domestic assembly by defense firm MBDA. However, experts have cautioned that this measure may not immediately address Ukraine's pressing operational needs or result in a rapid increase in functional missile production.

Pouyanne said TotalEnergies was benefiting from the sharp discounts offered by Middle Eastern crude producers, with oil being sold at $50-$60 a barrel, significantly below Brent crude prices, which were trading above $90 a barrel on Monday. The discounts were helping offset the sharply higher cost of transporting cargoes through the Strait of Hormuz, he said.

Also read: Fewer than 20 ships cross Strait of Hormuz over weekend as US-Iran blockades choke key oil route The additional freight costs for a supertanker are almost about $10 a barrel, he said. “Crude oil is sold to you at $50, $60 per barrel, not the Brent price, because the producers are desperate to push their oil into the market,” Pouyanne said.

The French petrochem giant is one of the largest traders of oil from Iraq and Qatar, two nations that have continued to move barrels through Hormuz in recent weeks, TotalEnergies boss added. A growing number of producers are moving cargoes through the critical waterway, which accounted for about a fifth of global oil flows before the Iran war.

These shipments have helped keep global oil prices from rising sharply beyond $100 a barrel, while also creating lucrative trading opportunities for shipowners and intermediaries. While some cargoes are transported directly to refineries worldwide, others are first loaded onto vessels in the Gulf of Oman before being shipped to their final destinations.

Pouyanne said the crude and fuel markets are increasingly diverging. Crude markets remain bearish, partly due to continued flows through the Strait of Hormuz, while fuel markets remain tight. Prices of products such as gasoline and diesel have risen following Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries, while the predominance of crude shipments through Hormuz has further constrained fuel supplies.

Also read: Iran threatens 45 tankers with fines, confiscation in Hormuz escalation However, he said the economics were far less favourable for refined petroleum products. Smaller product tankers meant that transportation costs could add as much as $50 a barrel, making shipments commercially unviable.

As a result, refined products such as gasoline and diesel are largely not being transported through the Strait of Hormuz, creating supply shortages and contributing to the divergence between crude and refined fuel markets, Pouyanne said. Despite the profitability of moving crude through the strait, TotalEnergies continues to pursue alternative export routes from the Middle East.

The company plans to become a partner in a proposed pipeline linking Baghdad to Syria and also intends to invest in expanding pipeline infrastructure in the UAE, Pouyanne said. He said TotalEnergies would invest in doubling the capacity of the Fujairah pipeline, which connects Abu Dhabi's oil fields to the UAE's eastern coast, allowing crude exports to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.

The existing Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline, also known as the Habshan-Fujairah pipeline, has a capacity of up to 1.8 million barrels per day and has become increasingly important as the UAE seeks to maximise oil exports from the Gulf of Oman coast. The UAE aims to double this export capacity by next year.

Also read: Strikes in the Gulf changing rules behind India’s big-money bets Iran threatens tankers with fines, confiscationThe Iranian authorities blacklisted 45 tankers that had broken its rules for crossing the Strait of Hormuz, and would take action against any vessels transferring loads with them, escalating its threats over the key waterway six months into the war.

The named vessels could be fined, detained and have their cargoes confiscated, according to an X post from the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, a new body set up by Iran to manage the strait. The restricted list of vessels includes very large crude carriers, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tankers, and clean product vessels, among others.

The Saudi vessel Amzan was reportedly hit by an unknown projectile 63 nautical miles west of Yanbu on Monday, according to UK Maritime Trade Operations, while Yemen’s Houthi group separately claimed responsibility for the attack in a televised statement.

Saudi shipping company Bahri confirmed the incident, stating that all crew members were safe and no injuries or environmental damage had been reported.