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"Operation Economic Outcast" Begins: Bessent Warns Countries Helping Iran Face Expulsion From Dollar System Summary

• Bessent Unveils "Operation Economic Outcast" Against Iran 
• Pakistan enters diplomatic push: Pakistan's army chief reportedly traveled to Tehran after Trump urged him to help reopen Iran talks.
• Iran threatens new tanker action: Tehran blacklisted 45 vessels and warned of further Hormuz attacks.
• US readies sweeping sanctions: Bessent is preparing a sweeping economic offensive targeting Iran and its trading partners.
• Rial collapses: Iran's currency hit a record low as inflation and economic pressures intensify.
• Hormuz leverage in question: Washington & Western sources claim US-supervised shipping through the Oman corridor has surged 400%.

//--> //--> US x Iran diplomatic meeting by August 31, 2026?
Yes 2% · No 98%
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Bessent Talks 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will hold a press conference at 1 p.m. to detail the latest sanctions plan against Iran, which he described to CNBC earlier as the greatest campaign of "coordinated economic isolation in the history of the world."

Summary: US Treasury Sanctions Nearly 60 Iran-Linked Entities, Individuals And Vessels Across Nuclear, Missile, Cyber And Oil Networks:

• Five sectors face potential secondary sanctions: digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping.
• Measures target brokerage networks and shadow-fleet vessels operating across the UAE, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Switzerland and Europe.
• Bessent warns that countries failing to take action "will be removed from the US dollar system."

Bessent launched the Trump administration's long-awaited "Operation Economic Outcast," unveiling sweeping sanctions designed to sever Iran from the global financial dollar system and punish any foreign government or entity that continues facilitating Tehran's trade.

The first wave of sanctions targets nearly 60 Iran-linked entities, individuals and vessels connected to the regime's nuclear, missile, cyber and oil networks.

The measures span a global web of brokerage companies, financial intermediaries and shadow-fleet vessels operating across China, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Switzerland and Europe.

"No one is above the reach of US sanctions," Bessent warned during the press conference.

Bessent made clear that Trump's campaign extends well beyond Iran. Foreign companies dealing with Tehran now face an explicit choice: sever those ties or risk losing access to the US financial system.

Bessent stopped just short of naming countries such as China...

"If others don't act, Treasury will unilaterally act," he said, adding that Washington "expects action" from other nations.

Bessent added, "To those who enable Iran, don't test US resolve."

The obvious pressure point here is China, which remains the largest buyer of Iranian crude. Washington has previously sanctioned independent Chinese refiners and trading companies.

Live

Trump asked Pakistan to Seek Diplomatic Reopening With Iran; Tehran Threatens More Hormuz Attacks

Just hours before the expected Bessent presser where he's expected to threaten any countries doing business with Iran with severe secondar sanctions (while it remains clear major power like China and Russia won't readily comply), Iran says it is prepared to attack more foreign tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. The Houthis are in the meantime targeting more Saudi vessels in the Red Sea region.

Tehran announced it has blacklisted 45 tankers for violating its rules to cross Hormuz, while underscoring its intent to take action against future transits and any vessels transferring loads with them. It is demanding 'fees' under the Oman-brokered management plan, which Washington has balked at. This comes as the US threatens Iran with "the toughest sanctions in history".

Iranian response ahead of Bessent presser:

Also being reported by Monday late morning is that Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, held a phone call with President Trump last week wherein the US leader reportedly asked for negotiations with Iran to be opened back up.

Munir has newly arrived in Tehran for talks with Iranian officials, according Tasnim news agency, in what's clearly ongoing shuttle diplomacy (very indirect, it seems)... amid hopes that future talks could be salvaged.

Big Bessent Iran Presser Set for 2 pm

In the coming hours, the Trump administration is expected to unveil a sweeping campaign to economically isolate Iran and its trading partners, with China likely the primary target. The escalation is designed to force Tehran back to the negotiating table, as its only leverage - the Strait of Hormuz - appears to be quickly eroding. Commercial ships are now transiting the newly opened, US military-supervised shipping corridor off Oman, raising the possibility that Iran has partially lost control of the critical waterway.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that he would hold a press conference on Monday to "talk about exactly what we're going to do" regarding an economic war against Tehran.

"Economic pressure means that we are going to all of our allies, and this is going to be the greatest coordinated economic isolation in the history of the world, and we are going to them and saying, 'You are either with us or against us,'" Bessent said.

Bessent Claims 'End Game' - Tehran Differs

Late Sunday, Bessent wrote on X: "We are now entering the endgame. At dawn begins an economic D-Day, the single greatest financial offensive ever marshaled against an adversary."

"President Trump has dismantled Iran's military capabilities, destroyed nearly 100 percent of its military factories, and buried its nuclear program," Bessent continued.

He noted, "The Islamic Republic has subsisted by dressing extortion as security guarantees. It has drawn strength from a calculus that regards Iranian retaliation as certain and American enforcement as negotiable. Under President Trump, that era is over. And those who fear the danger of defying Tehran ought not to discount the cost of testing Washington."

President Trump has dismantled Iran’s military capabilities, destroyed nearly 100 percent of its military factories, and buried its nuclear program.

We are now entering the endgame. At dawn begins an economic D-Day — the single greatest financial offensive ever marshaled against…

— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) August 23, 2026 Rial Record Low

In markets, Iran's currency tumbled to a record low. The rial dropped to about 2.02 million per US dollar on the open market (bonbast.com), compared with the central bank's official rate of roughly 1.5 million.

Even before the US and Israel operation to neuter Iran's offensive capabilities on Feb. 28, the rial had been under pressure, coupled with persistent double-digit inflation and economic turmoil. Economic conditions have worsened since the US Navy's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz disrupted trade and government revenue. 

The economic shock is increasingly visible across household prices. Rice has jumped 60% in just a few months, while beef prices have soared by 150%. The International Monetary Fund forecasts a 5% contraction in Iran's economy. 

On Friday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned of mounting economic pressure on Tehran, while cautioning against "humiliatingly" backing down "before the enemy."

Truth Social: Iran is Completely Collapsing

Trump posts this short statement on Monday, saying...

BUT... the US has fallen back to merely economic war and sanctions measures, after this:

Retired US four-star general coming to the same conclusion btw https://t.co/4Aphu9PoDL pic.twitter.com/jwyZqKnuRk

— dart (@poordart) August 24, 2026

"The war must come to an end at some point," Pezeshkian emphasized in a speech quoted by state media. "It is better that we demonstrate our strength and dignity today and tell the world that we have won and that we are ending the war."

Tehran's leverage over the critical waterway eroded last week as new data over the weekend showed that commercial transits through the US military-supervised Oman shipping corridor surged 400%. Trump has declared the Strait of Hormuz "an American territory." 

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Massachusetts Citizenship Rule At Center Of Alleged Voter-Impersonation Case

Authored by Arthur Zhang via The Epoch Times,

After federal prosecutors charged a Chinese man for registering to vote and casting a ballot under his former landlord's name, experts are questioning Massachusetts' verification processes.

A voter fills out his midterm-election ballot in Boston City Hall on Nov. 8, 2022. Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images

Yupeng Sun, a Chinese national living in Andover, allegedly submitted an online voter registration in the name of his former landlord, who was not a U.S. citizen, on Oct. 10, 2024.

Massachusetts regulations - which took effect in June 2023 - require applicants using the state's online voter registration system to have reliable citizenship information documented in their motor vehicle records before they submit an application online.

If that citizenship documentation is missing, the regulation says the applicant "shall be unable to submit an online application."

"How did Sun manage to successfully, allegedly, impersonate a green card holder?" Logan Churchwell, research director at the Public Interest Legal Foundation, told The Epoch Times.

"Based on the regulation, a system functioning according to the letter should've halted the impersonation at the outset," he said.

"Massachusetts seems to have everything it needs in place to verify citizenship, but there could be malfunctioning parts needing fixes," he said.

The Secretary of the Commonwealth's office has not explained how the application was able to proceed under that requirement.

Prosecutors allege that Sun used his former landlord J.L.'s real name, date of birth, former Malden address, and Massachusetts driver's license number to register online.

J.L., a Chinese citizen and lawful permanent resident, was not eligible to vote.

The Secretary of the Commonwealth's office did not respond by publication time to questions about what citizenship information was contained in J.L.'s registry record, how an online application submitted in his identity was able to proceed under the regulation, or whether the state has reviewed the process since learning of the case.

Three weeks after registering, prosecutors allege, Sun went to Malden City Hall, identified himself as J.L., received an early ballot for the presidential election, and signed J.L.'s name on the ballot envelope.

Malden City Clerk Carol Ann Desiderio previously told The Epoch Times that the ballot was processed and counted in the final certified vote. The city had identified no problem with J.L.'s registration or ballot before federal investigators contacted it.

Don Palmer, a former chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and former state elections director who is now a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said election administrators should verify both identity and citizenship before placing an applicant on the voter rolls.

"There needs to be a mechanism to confirm the eligibility of applicants under state and federal law, and you should not simply rely on the assertion of the applicant," Palmer told The Epoch Times.

Palmer called the allegation that one noncitizen used another noncitizen's identity to register and cast a ballot an example of inadequate citizenship verification.

He said online registration systems should use existing government records and technology to confirm both identity and eligibility.

"States need to use existing technology and databases available to them to assist in confirming eligibility of voters; otherwise, these failures will continue to hurt voter confidence," Palmer said.

Charles Stewart III, an MIT political scientist who studies election administration, said the allegations involve unusually extensive identity theft and that determined impersonators can evade many identity safeguards.

Boston Records

The Public Interest Legal Foundation separately provided The Epoch Times with a spreadsheet it compiled from voter records obtained from the City of Boston.

The catalog contains 70 voter registrations that had been canceled because of noncitizenship.

Of those, 22 are marked "Yes" in a column showing whether at least one vote was recorded in the registrant's name. Sixteen are marked "No," while 32 don't have a yes-or-no entry.

In one case, the spreadsheet notes that Boston believed a vote credit may have been mistakenly assigned to the registrant instead of his wife.

Several entries say noncitizenship was discovered through Boston's annual resident listing. Others identify the Registry of Motor Vehicles as the source of the original voter registration.

The City of Boston did not respond by publication time to questions about how the 70 registrations were identified or whether the individuals associated with the 22 voting histories were noncitizens when those votes were recorded.

The city's public-records office acknowledged The Epoch Times' request for the underlying records and said it would work to respond within 10 business days.

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TotalEnergies CEO Reveals Cost To Move A Supertanker Through Hormuz

The crisis-driven dislocation across Gulf oil markets has positioned French energy giant TotalEnergies SE as an early mover, capitalizing on heavily discounted Persian Gulf crude priced at $50 to $60 a barrel and moving it through the highly contested Strait of Hormuz. CEO Patrick Pouyanné revealed at the Norwegian energy conference on Monday that transiting the waterway now costs roughly $20 million per supertanker.

Bloomberg earlier quoted Pouyanné as saying that the added cost of moving crude on supertankers through the Hormuz chokepoint is about $10 per barrel. However, with Brent crude futures at $92 per barrel, the potential profit could be upward of $30 per barrel. That is before financing and other costs, creating extraordinary margins for companies willing to accept the risks of being early movers in one of the world's most dangerous waterways.

TotalEnergies is one of the largest traders of Iraqi and Qatari crude, with both producers continuing to move oil through the Strait of Hormuz.

"We are today probably the largest trader of oil from Iraq or from Qatar ... and I can ​tell you that today crude oil is moving through the Strait of Hormuz very quietly, not ​publicly," Pouyanné said. 

Pouyanné did not elaborate on whether TotalEnergies-contracted tankers are transiting the US military-supervised shipping corridor off Oman.

Recent data have shown a noticeable uptick in transits, raising the question of whether Tehran's grip on the maritime chokepoint has eroded.

Pouyanné also warned that the refined-products market is currently in crisis.

"You have a bearish crude oil market and a very bullish product markets, which is very strange," he said. "Our consumers in Europe will suffer on this one," while in the US, "gasoline prices would not go lower than $4 as President Trump would like."

More on Pouyanne from Bloomberg's Javier Blas:

TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne nails it, warning that some emerging nations are “losing trust” on LNG after two back-to-back price shocks (2022 and 2026). The result? “Back to coal.”

— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) August 24, 2026

Gulf producers are willing to unload discounted crude, while some energy companies are ready to accept the risk of sailing through the Strait of Hormuz in pursuit of substantial profits. Despite all this, as Pouyanné warned, there is little that increased crude flows can do to resolve the worldwide refined-products crisis.

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