On April 15, 2026, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced “Operation Economic Fury” at a White House press briefing, describing it as “the financial equivalent of what we saw in the kinetic activities” — i.e., the financial equivalent of bombing Iran.
Treasury sanctioned 29 entities (3 individuals, 17 companies, 9 oil tankers) linked to Iranian oil shipping magnate Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, and separately targeted a Hezbollah-linked Iran-Venezuela oil-for-gold money laundering network. Bessent sent warning letters to financial institutions in China, Hong Kong, the UAE, and Oman threatening secondary sanctions, and announced the U.S. would not renew a waiver (expiring April 19) that had permitted sales of 140 million barrels of stranded Iranian oil.
Bessent: “The Iranians should know that this is going to be the financial equivalent of what we saw in the kinetic activities.” He warned: “If you are buying Iranian oil, if Iranian money is sitting in your banks, we are now willing to apply secondary sanctions.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren called it damage control: “What Secretary Bessent is trying to do is mop up the mess that Donald Trump has created by initiating this war.” She noted the blockade combined with rising oil prices has actually helped Iran's economy. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) was blunt: “I personally am just not optimistic that we actually can fix this thing without a regime change.”
Since Trump's maximum pressure campaign began, OFAC has sanctioned over 1,000 persons, vessels, and aircraft. Treasury's FinCEN found Iran moved approximately $9 billion through U.S. correspondent banking accounts in 2024 using shell companies in Hong Kong and the UAE.