US declares global economic war on Iran, vowing to sever all revenue streams

The Trump administration has escalated its confrontation with Tehran to a new level, with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announcing a global economic pressure campaign aimed at cutting off every source of Iranian revenue, including oil. The announcement, made on Monday, marks a significant intensification of the so-called “maximum pressure” policy first imposed in 2018.

“Around the globe, our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains this tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone,” Bessent said, warning what he called Iran’s facilitators to cease buying oil and doing business with Tehran Source 1.

President Donald Trump has described the coming measures as an “economic D-Day,” according to reports, with the US preparing the most potent financial penalties ever imposed on any country Source 2. The campaign will target banks, oil buyers and refiners, shipping companies, ports, airports, exchange houses, front companies, and potentially even governments that facilitate Iranian trade, exposing them to secondary sanctions.

The announcement comes amid an ongoing US naval blockade in the region. US Central Command said on Sunday that its forces have redirected 70 commercial vessels, disabled three, and boarded two as part of the blockade, which it says could last indefinitely Source 2.

However, Iran has spent years building a sophisticated sanctions-evasion system, including a shadow tanker fleet, ship-to-ship oil transfers, shell companies, and alternative payment and barter mechanisms. Its extensive land borders, railway lines, and access to the Caspian Sea in the north also provide alternative routes that are harder to interdict Source 2.

Analysts quoted by Al Jazeera say the new penalties are unlikely to change Iran’s behaviour, given that it is already one of the most sanctioned countries in the world Source 2. Iran has responded to previous rounds of US and allied sanctions by deepening its evasion networks rather than capitulating.

The strategy faces another complication: the willingness of European banks and corporations to comply. A recent investigation by Dutch journalism platform Follow the Money found that ING, a major Amsterdam-based bank, has continued to finance oil and gas companies it had publicly pledged to drop. ING said in September 2024 it would halt all new financing to “pure-play” oil and gas producers that keep opening new fields, but it subsequently arranged more than $900 million in loans and bonds for three such firms: Norway’s Aker BP and Vår Energi, and the UK’s NEO Energy Source 3.

Environmental group Milieudefensie called ING’s pledge misleading from the start. “They’ve closed off one small loophole, and now it turns out they’re not even sticking to that,” said Nicky van Dijk, who leads the group’s research for its climate case against the bank Source 3.

The ING case illustrates a broader challenge for US sanctions enforcement: even when Western financial institutions make voluntary commitments, economic interests can override them. The Trump administration will need to ensure that its secondary sanctions are backed by credible enforcement to prevent a repeat of the evasion patterns that have undermined previous pressure campaigns.

For now, Iranians are bracing for further economic pain. Trump claimed in a social media post on Monday that Iran was “completely collapsing,” but the regime has survived decades of isolation and sanctions. The question is whether this new, truly global campaign can succeed where earlier efforts have fallen short.