In the ongoing conflict between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States, Iran is finding its options are all wrapped up by three primary administration figures, aside from President Trump; they are contending with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Of the three, it seems that right now, Treasury Secretary Bessent is doing them the most damage.
Now, on Thursday, Treasury Secretary Bessent has announced a new round of sanctions, this time putting the squeeze on Iran's automotive, rail, manufacturing and steelmaking operations.
The Iranian regime's ability to fund its war machine and inflict terror on the world has been severely diminished thanks to Operation Economic Outcast. Today’s action directly targets Iran’s enablers and lays the groundwork for the United States and our partners to drain the… https://t.co/K16omEFIQM
— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) October 1, 2026
The post states:
The Iranian regime's ability to fund its war machine and inflict terror on the world has been severely diminished thanks to Operation Economic Outcast. Today’s action directly targets Iran’s enablers and lays the groundwork for the United States and our partners to drain the regime’s revenue once and for all.
There is, also, a press release from Treasury with more details.
Today, as part of Operation Economic Outcast, the U.S. Department of the Treasury is targeting some of the last significant elements of Iran’s failing industrial infrastructure, including its rail and automotive conglomerates. Much like the petroleum sector, Iran’s automotive and rail industries have been coopted by the regime and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), whose corruption and self‑serving interests have pushed Iran’s economy to the brink.
It seems Treasury Secretary Bessent has a "who's naughty" list of Iranian industries and financial concerns. He's checked it twice, and now he's making sure that these Iranian concerns don't find anything in their stockings; not even a lump of coal. The squeeze on Iran's economy just keeps getting tighter.
As the U.S. military’s maritime blockade takes hold and Iran’s oil revenues fall to zero, the regime has grown increasingly dependent on these remaining industries to maintain a veneer of economic solvency. Because the rail and automotive sectors represent some of the regime’s largest remaining sources of revenue and logistical capacity, today’s action strikes directly at the critical arteries Iran relies on to sustain its economy and evade sanctions.
The automotive sector, in particular, is deeply intertwined with IRGC patronage networks, enabling corruption, trade‑based money laundering, and even the exploitation of prison labor, making the dismantling of these channels vital to cutting off IRGC financing.
This may be the first time in history when the United States has leveraged our economic and financial might to do an opponent more damage than our guns, missiles and bombs have done. Oh, President Trump hasn't taken that option off the table, either, and that may even be more likely now that Secretary of State Rubio has tossed the Iranian negotiators, who remained behind in the USA after the recent UN Global Summit, out on their fundaments. Trump and his administration may well have, as I've been pointing out, arrived at the conclusion that the only way out of this is through.
Iran has suffered under the sanctions brought by Treasury Secretary Bessent. Their negotiators have been dismissed by Secretary of State Rubio. Will they now once again make the unpleasant acquaintance of the people who work for Secretary of War Hegseth? We should have an answer to that soon.