Arabic version: الولايات المتحدة تفرض عقوبات على بنك آخر بسبب صلاته بإيران

According to Al Jazeera, Washington plans to sanction another bank this week as it intensifies efforts to economically isolate Tehran while truce talks remain deadlocked. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he would not identify the bank in advance.

Bessent told The Associated Press that the United States was prepared to escalate its financial campaign. “This is going to be financial violence if we have to,” he said, adding that banks should stop holding Iranian money and aiding the Iranian government.

In comments to Reuters, Bessent said the next step could involve cutting an institution entirely off from the dollar-based financial system. He said the United States would announce more such actions every week, beginning with banks. The measures are part of a campaign Washington calls “Operation Economic Outcast”.

The planned action follows a US move last week to cut off the United Arab Emirates’s operations of Basque Misr from the US financial system. Washington accused Egypt’s second-biggest bank of doing business with the Iranian government. The Treasury Department also sanctioned nearly 60 individuals and entities it said were involved in networks helping Iran generate oil revenue, procure weapons and conduct cyber-operations.

Iran has rejected the latest sanctions, with Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Ali Madanizadeh saying they would fail. Bessent is preparing to meet G20 finance leaders in Asheville, North Carolina, and said he would raise cooperation against Iran with counterparts, including Chinese officials. He said all options remained available regarding sanctions on Beijing over its continued trade with Tehran.