Bessent expects new US secondary sanctions weekly, aiming to increase pressure on Iran

The US Treasury Department plans to impose new secondary sanctions on a weekly basis to increase economic pressure on Iran. According to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the initial focus will be on banks. This move comes after penalties were imposed on the United Arab Emirates branches of Egypt's Banque Misr on Friday over alleged financial links to Iran.

Bessent told Reuters that the next step may be cutting off an institution entirely from the dollar-based financial system. He stated that the goal is to drive home the message to G20 finance ministers and central bank governors to cut economic ties to Iran, or face secondary sanctions.

Bessent described the sanctions as "financial violence if we have to" and emphasized that the US is aware of the institutions involved and will take action to stop their alleged support for the Iranian regime.

Brief written by urgent.news from Al-Monitor, Jerusalem Post, Free Malaysia Today, Investing.com, PBS NewsHour — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.