ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The Trump administration is preparing to sanction another bank this week as part of a widening push to choke off financial transactions linked to Iran, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday.
Speaking to The Associated Press ahead of Group of 20 meetings in Asheville, North Carolina, Bessent said he plans to press finance officials from major and emerging economies to join Washington’s effort to deepen Iran’s economic isolation.
“This is going to be financial violence if we have to,” Bessent said in the interview. “We are showing people that we know who you are, you know who you are, and this has got to stop.”
The comments follow Bessent’s recent announcement of a new Treasury campaign aimed at governments and companies that continue doing business with Iran, despite years of heavy U.S. and international sanctions. The message, he said, is that financial ties with Tehran must be cut or those involved could face U.S. retaliation.
The Treasury Department’s first formal move under the campaign came Friday with a proposed rule that, if completed, would block the Emirati branches of Banque Misr, Egypt’s second-largest bank, from the U.S. financial system.
By opting for a proposed rule rather than immediate sanctions against the Egyptian bank, the Republican administration appeared to leave room for diplomacy with major economies that maintain commercial links with Iran. That includes China and India, whose officials are expected to meet separately with Bessent during the G-20 gathering this week.
Bessent told the AP he will raise the issue directly with Chinese officials at the G-20 and said “all options are on the table” when it comes to potential sanctions over Beijing’s continued purchases. Still, he rejected the idea that the administration is hesitant to target China, calling that view “a completely false narrative that the media picked up on.” He also said Washington and Beijing share an interest in reopening the Strait of Hormuz and stopping Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
