Forbes, in a report, wrote that the United States, within the framework of “economic expulsion operations,” seeks to increase economic pressure on Tehran by threatening banks and commercial partners of the Islamic Republic.

In its first banking step, the U.S. Treasury Department has proposed that the activities of the UAE unit of Egypt’s bank be cut off from the U.S. financial system. According to the ministry, this unit processed about $1.8 billion for companies that are likely to be part of Iran’s covert banking network.

Forbes wrote that Washington, in the first stage, is targeting smaller and replaceable institutions and has not yet refrained from imposing secondary sanctions on its large Chinese banks and buyers.

At the same time, the OFAC has expanded the scope of the restrictions and warned about payments of money to sanctioned Iranian entities in order to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

According to Forbes, the next targets will show whether the United States continues its current cautious path or is ready to move into a more costly phase of the economic pressure campaign, by targeting banks and large Chinese buyers.