The United States is likely to announce sanctions against an Iranian bank this week as part of its escalating economic campaign against Tehran, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said.
Bessent made the disclosure on Tuesday during an event held on the sidelines of the G20 finance leaders’ meeting in Asheville, North Carolina.
“We are probably going to announce a bank sanction this week, and we will announce one the week after,” Bessent said, adding that the US had received strong support from its allies.
He said Washington was also considering sanctions against airline leasing companies and other entities doing business with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“It could be entities. It could be airline leasing companies, which we’ll be looking at. It could be anyone who does business with the IRGC,” Bessent said.
He added that the US was tracking the IRGC’s assets as part of efforts to increase economic pressure on the Iranian regime.
“We have zero tolerance. We are going to economically asphyxiate this regime,” the Treasury Secretary said.
Bessent had told Reuters on Sunday that the US Treasury was preparing to impose new secondary sanctions on a weekly basis, initially targeting banks to intensify economic pressure on Iran.
He said a subsequent measure could involve cutting an institution off entirely from the dollar-based financial system.
Addressing the IRGC directly, Bessent warned that the US knew the locations of its overseas financial assets and properties and would move to freeze them.
“We know where in the British Virgin Islands your accounts are at these trust companies,” he said, adding that Washington knew about properties worth $100 million owned by IRGC-linked figures around the world.
Bessent also said the United States had held private discussions with China on preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and maintaining freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
