President Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Monday that the United States will impose sweeping secondary sanctions on any country or institution that does business with Iran. The sanctions, dubbed Operation Economic Outcast, are described as an “economic D‑Day” intended to cut off Iran’s oil, gold, technology, digital assets, aviation and shipping sectors. Bessent said the policy will use a zero‑leakage approach to shut down facilitators and networks that enable Iran to evade existing sanctions, but he did not disclose implementation details or a timeline. Reporters asked which leaders are being pressured and when enforcement would occur; Bessent declined to answer. The United Arab Emirates, Iran’s largest regional trading partner and a U.S. ally, said it would temporarily halt trade with Iran following the announcement. Bessent said Iran has been in conflict with the United States and much of the world for 47 years, a period during which U.S. sanctions have increased ninefold over the past two decades without leading to a more cooperative government, according to the administration. World Bank data from 2025 show that about 35 percent of Iran’s 92 million residents live on less than $8.30 per day, the poverty line for its economic peers. The administration has previously imposed secondary sanctions on many nations that trade with Iran, but enforcement has been limited against major partners such as China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Turkey and Qatar.