The US Treasury has moved to cut Banque Misr UAE off from the American financial system, accusing the Egyptian bank’s Emirates branch of processing $1.8 billion for companies potentially linked to Iran’s shadow banking network.
The action comes just four days after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent launched “Operation Economic Outcast,” a sanctions campaign that aims to sever all of Iran’s economic ties around the world.
Washington intensified its pressure this week, nearly six months into the war without a lasting settlement, as it turns to economic pressure in its campaign against Iran, seeking to further squeeze Tehran's access to the global financial system.
“Around the globe, our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains this tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in announcing the measures.
The campaign, dubbed ‘economic D-Day’, comes as Iran is already under intense economic pressure.
Its Central Bank says oil exports have stopped, the rial has fallen to a record low, and the International Monetary Fund expects the economy to contract 6.1% this year.
But Iran has endured decades of US sanctions and economic isolation without abandoning policies Washington has sought to change, raising a larger question: What economic cards does the US still have to play, and how much leverage can they give Washington over Tehran?
Oil, naval blockade
At the centre of Washington's economic pressure is Iran's oil trade, one of Tehran's main sources of export revenue and foreign currency.
Iran’s Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati said last week that Tehran's oil exports had fallen to zero amid the war and sanctions.
"There is no doubt that we face restrictions on oil exports," Hemmati said in a televised interview. "It is a reality that we are not exporting oil."
The US restored its naval blockade against vessels travelling to and from Iranian ports on July 14 after a temporary easing of restrictions.
According to commodities intelligence firm Kpler, Iranian crude loadings fell from an average of 893,000 barrels per day in July to just 156,000 barrels per day through August.
Hemmati's statement that exports have since fallen to zero suggests the pressure on Tehran's oil revenues has intensified further.
Max Gillman, Friedrich A. Hayek Professor of Economic History at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, said the blockade is likely to remain Washington's main instrument of economic pressure.
"I think the main enforcement measure will be the naval blockade on Iranian trade. I expect this to continue indefinitely," Gillman told Anadolu.
"The continued blockade serves to pressure the economic resources available to the ruling Iranian regime," he said.
Foreign reserves, access to dollars
Restricting Iran's ability to sell oil is only one side of Washington's strategy.
Washington can also make it more difficult for Tehran to access foreign currency it has already earned.
Hemmati said the Iranian government and Central Bank had prepared for the loss of revenue, but stressed that Iran faced an additional constraint because its foreign currency reserves remained blocked by Washington.
"The Americans have frozen our foreign currency reserves and do not allow us to withdraw them," he said.
He also said Iranian funds expected to be released under the Islamabad Memorandum, the framework agreement reached with Washington in June, had not yet been freed.
Access to those reserves has become increasingly important as pressure mounts on Iran's currency.
Iran has increasingly relied on alternative payment mechanisms, shadow banking networks, cryptocurrency and intermediaries in third countries to move export revenues and bypass sanctions.
US authorities have repeatedly targeted those channels, seeking to make it harder for Tehran to convert trade and energy earnings into usable foreign currency.
Secondary sanctions
Washington can also target foreign companies, banks and individuals that do business with sanctioned Iranian entities, potentially threatening their access to the US financial system.
This week, the US Treasury announced new categories of Iranian economic activity that can expose foreign companies and individuals to sanctions, including digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping.
The Treasury also said it was developing sanctions against more than 60 entities, individuals and vessels around the world that it accused of helping Iran.
Teams from the Treasury and State departments and the US military are meeting foreign counterparts and setting deadlines for them to halt activities identified by Washington, he said.
"Every country has a defined timeline to shut down activities we have identified. If they do not take action, we will do so unilaterally through Treasury authorities," Bessent said.
He singled out Iran's Bank Melli, saying every branch must be shuttered, and issued a broader warning to institutions facilitating transactions Washington considers illicit.
"Any entity that facilitates money laundering on behalf of Iran will be removed from the US dollar system. The clock is ticking," he said.
How much more can Iran’s economy take?
Washington is tightening restrictions at a difficult moment for Iran's economy.
The IMF expects the economy to contract 6.1% in 2026, a downward revision of 7.2 percentage points from its January forecast, while average inflation is projected at 68.9%, up from 50.9% in 2025.
Labour-market conditions have also deteriorated. Iran's official unemployment rate rose to 9.1% in the spring, while the number of employed people fell by around 450,000 from a year earlier.
Meanwhile, the rial fell to a record low of about 2 million against the US dollar on the informal market this week, while figures from the Statistical Centre of Iran showed point-to-point consumer inflation reached 87.9% in July.
The weaker rial increases the local cost of imported goods, adding to pressure on households already confronting rapidly rising prices.
Limits of US economic pressure
There are limits both to how far Washington can push its economic leverage and what that pressure can ultimately achieve.
Asked why the US was giving Iran's business partners an opportunity to halt targeted activities rather than immediately penalising them, Bessent pointed to potential consequences for the wider financial system.
"We are giving everyone the opportunity to remedy bad behaviour," he said. "Why would I want to blow up the global financial system?"
Restrictions on Iranian trade can also have consequences beyond Iran, particularly through their impact on energy markets.
Gillman said continued economic pressure could nevertheless prove less disruptive than renewed large-scale warfare, arguing that Washington appears to be seeking to pressure Tehran while avoiding sharper increases in oil prices.
Although the blockade itself puts upward pressure on oil prices, Gillman said keeping crude within the $70-$80 range would support wider economic stability and limit additional export revenues for Russia.
But the bigger question is whether even severe economic pressure can produce the political concessions Washington is seeking.
Iran has lived under varying degrees of US sanctions and economic isolation for decades, developing ways to circumvent restrictions while resisting pressure to abandon policies opposed by Washington.
The Trump administration argues that stronger enforcement can change Tehran's calculation.
Yet despite the economic strain already facing Iran, nearly six months of war and pressure have so far failed to produce a lasting settlement.
