Starting With Banks… U.S. Treasury Secretary Expects New U.S. Sanctions to Be Imposed

Al-Taj News – U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that the Treasury Department is likely to announce new weekly secondary sanctions aimed at increasing economic pressure on Iran, initially focusing on banks.

After sanctions were imposed Friday on a branch of Egypt’s Banque Misr in the UAE over reported financial ties to Iran, Bessent said in an interview that the next step could be to completely cut an institution off from the dollar-based financial system.

“You will see more of these measures every week,” Bessent said ahead of a meeting of G20 finance ministers.

“We start with the banks, and we tell the banks that it is unacceptable to hold Iranian funds or to assist the regime,” he added.

Bessent said he intends to make that message clear to G20 finance ministers and central bank governors: they must cut economic ties with Iran or face secondary sanctions.