US to impose fresh sanctions on banks aiding Iran: Treasury Secretary Bessent

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington will impose fresh sanctions on banks and entities aiding Iran, including those linked to the IRGC. He warned of financial-system restrictions, asset freezes and intensified enforcement, while citing cooperation with European and regional partners

Asheville (US): US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said Washington is preparing fresh sanctions against banks helping Iran, warning that entities doing business with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) could be cut off from the American financial system.

Bessent made the remarks during a fireside conversation with Larry Kudlow in Asheville, North Carolina, where finance ministers and other senior officials gathered for the G20 meetings. We’re probably going to announce a bank sanction this week and we are going to have another one the week after, Bessent said.

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He said the Treasury Department was intensifying action across digital assets, aviation and maritime networks as part of the Trump administration’s campaign to isolate Tehran financially. The Treasury now has five new authorities and it is across digital assets. It is across aviation. It is across maritime. And we are flexing every day, he said.

Bessent cited the case of a branch of an Egyptian bank in Dubai that he said had funnelled more than USD 1.8 billion to the Iranian government. The US used an authority under the Patriot Act to shut down the operation while avoiding action against the bank’s Egyptian parent, he said.

He warned that enforcement could reach banks, airline leasing companies and any entity conducting business with the IRGC. It could be anyone who does business with the IRGC, Bessent said. We are tracking down the IRGC’s assets.

In a direct warning to Iranian officials, the Treasury Secretary said Washington had located accounts held through trust companies in the British Virgin Islands, as well as expensive properties around the world.

We are going to freeze those, he said. We are going to, with our partners, we are going to close all that down. Bessent said the administration had received support from the European Union, the European Central Bank, Britain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Washington would show zero tolerance towards efforts to help Tehran evade restrictions, he added.

He also said the United States had held private discussions with China over Iran. Despite wider disagreements between Washington and Beijing, Bessent said the two countries shared some objectives.
We have more in common with the Chinese on Iran than we disagree with, he said.

The Chinese agree Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Bessent said China also supported freedom of navigation, an important concern for global energy markets and commercial shipping. Iran has repeatedly been accused by the US and its partners of threatening vessels and using regional waterways as leverage.

Turning to the US economy, Bessent said growth was accelerating despite the Iran conflict. He credited regulatory, tax and energy policies under President Donald Trump with strengthening investment and employment. Growth, I believe, is re-accelerating, he said. Everyone agreed that growth has been better than they thought it would have been given the Iran conflict.

The United States has long used sanctions to restrict Iran’s access to the international financial system. Treasury measures have targeted the IRGC, Iran’s energy exports, shipping networks and companies accused of facilitating sanctions evasion.

The IRGC has been designated by the United States as a foreign terrorist organisation since 2019. Washington has also imposed secondary sanctions that can penalise non-US institutions for certain transactions with sanctioned Iranian entities.