U.S. Treasury Expands Iran Sanctions to Digital Assets, Technology, Gold, Aviation and Shipping

The Treasury Department on Monday launched a new sanctions campaign against Iran that broadens U.S. penalties risk to five more sectors of the Iranian economy — digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping — while imposing nearly 60 new sanctions designations.

The move matters beyond the entities named Monday because it raises the risk of so-called secondary sanctions, which can hit non-U.S. companies, banks, intermediaries and even governments that keep facilitating identified Iran-related business. Treasury said countries found to be enabling such activity would be given defined timelines to wind it down, and that the announcement expands sanctions exposure for those that continue.

In a press release dated Aug. 24, Treasury said that, at President Donald Trump’s direction, it had begun what it called “Operation Economic Outcast,” describing it as a whole-of-government economic campaign against Iran and its enablers.

The most significant policy change was Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issuing determinations against the five sectors under U.S. Iran sanctions authorities. Those determinations expand the kinds of Iran-linked activity that can expose foreign actors to secondary sanctions, not just direct dealings with already blacklisted parties.

Treasury also said OFAC sanctioned nearly 60 entities, individuals and vessels in multiple jurisdictions. In addition, OFAC suspended several general licenses that had previously authorized certain remittance payments to Iran and Iranian access to the U.S. cultural and academic system.

Treasury said it also issued additional guidance on sanctions risks tied to Iranian demands affecting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a major global oil transit route where compliance decisions by shipowners, insurers and service providers can carry sanctions implications.

Monday’s package targeted three broad categories of activity, according to Treasury. One involved a procurement scheme supporting Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics for missile- and nuclear-related research. Another focused on what Treasury described as a malicious cyber group directed by Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, or MOIS. The third targeted a network of brokers, companies and shadow-fleet vessels used to move Iranian oil and revenue through jurisdictions including the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Switzerland and Europe.

Treasury said the cyber designations were coordinated with the FBI and tied to a Justice Department superseding indictment unsealed Aug. 18 charging 17 Iranian cyber actors. Treasury said four of those defendants were designated Monday.

The State Department was taking parallel action, Treasury said, by designating seven members of Iran’s defense leadership and two Iranian entities involved in enabling Iranian military strikes against U.S. forces and partners. Treasury also said the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program was offering up to $10 million for information about certain malicious cyber activity against U.S. critical infrastructure carried out on behalf of a foreign government.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the department’s release: “Our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains this tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone.”

The sector determinations rely on Executive Order 13902, issued in January 2020. That order allows the United States to target additional sectors of Iran’s economy, and sector findings under it can widen secondary-sanctions risk for foreign firms, banks and intermediaries doing business connected to those areas.

The action also fits into a broader Treasury escalation this year. In 2026, the department had already taken enforcement steps tied to crypto exchanges, gold-related networks, aviation, shipping, and oil-smuggling or shadow-banking networks linked to Iran. Monday’s package deepens that pressure on third-country facilitators in shipping, finance, technology and digital assets, not just Iranian entities themselves.

For immediate market context, major outlets including The Associated Press reported that Iran’s rial hit a record low earlier Monday amid anticipation of the new U.S. measures.