Bessent welcomes EU support for cutting off Iran's financial lifeline

US Treasury Secretary <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/economy/2026/08/30/g20-iran/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/economy/2026/08/30/g20-iran/">Scott Bessent</a> on Monday welcomed the European Union's commitment to placing sanctions on <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/iran" target="_blank" rel="" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/iran">Iran</a> as Washington seeks global support in severing Tehran's financial lifelines. In a statement delivered to the G20 financial ministerial in Asheville, North Carolina, the European Commission said the EU welcomed recent US moves to apply economic pressure on Iran, adding that the bloc remained ready to take additional action. “I want to thank the EU and the ECB [European Central Bank] for their strong statement of support for our economic operations against the Iranian regime, and together, this group will end this 47-year horrendous reign that they have had,” Mr Bessent said in opening remarks before a plenary session. Mr Bessent is expected to hold discussions with his counterparts this week on joining Washington's latest economic pressure campaign. The new front, called Operation Economic Outcast, broadens the scope of secondary sanctions the US can place on countries and businesses that engage with Iran. The Treasury Secretary warned that those who engage with Tehran risk being cut off from the dollar-based financial system. The US hopes that placing greater economic strain on Iran will force it to the negotiating table, after military operations and a naval blockade failed to force Tehran to capitulate. Mr Bessent said recent Iranian attacks suggested it was taking the threat of US sanctions seriously. “I would think that they are lashing out kinetically because they are ​losing ‌economically,” Mr Bessent said. On Sunday, the US and Iran <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/us/2026/08/30/us-strikes-iran-near-strait-of-hormuz-in-first-military-action-in-a-month/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/us/2026/08/30/us-strikes-iran-near-strait-of-hormuz-in-first-military-action-in-a-month/">exchanged strikes</a> for the first time since July, with US forces striking two rocket launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded by targeting Jordan with missiles and the UAE with a drone on Monday. The UAE Ministry of Defence said an Iranian drone was intercepted over territorial waters.