U.S. sanctions campaign against Iran put to the test; what if China doesn’t cooperate?

U.S. sanctions campaign against Iran put to the test; what if China doesn’t cooperate?

🔸Experts in U.S. sanctions say the new campaign launched by the Trump administration to isolate Iran economically could be an effective step in intensifying pressure—provided Washington carries out its threats in practice.

🔸Scott Bessent, the U.S. Treasury secretary, unveiled a plan titled “Economic Expulsion Operation” on the second day of Shahrivar (September 2) and described it as an unprecedented effort to force Iran’s commercial partners to choose between continuing trade relations with Tehran and access to the U.S. financial system.

🔸However, Bessent did not announce any immediate steps of substance, leaving the main question unanswered: Is Washington willing to go beyond targeting Iranian institutions and smaller intermediaries, and go directly after financial institutions and oil buyers in China—who play a key role in supplying Iran’s revenue?

🔸The danger of such an approach is that it could provoke Beijing’s response and likely reignite the trade war between the two countries ahead of the planned trip by Xi Jinping to Washington on September 24.

🔸From Michael Parker’s perspective—an ex-official at the U.S. Treasury who has a background of serving as an inspector and head of a division in the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)—it appears the goal of Bessent’s remarks was to warn and apply pressure on foreign governments, as much as it was to announce immediate sanctions.

🔸Parker told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: “It seemed that Bessent’s statements were an overt warning to strengthen America’s back-channel diplomacy. Apparently, he was giving the key players—both in China and elsewhere—the chance to adjust their behavior before more extensive actions were taken, and to preserve their dignity.”

🔸He added: “Whether this action changes the rules of the game or not depends on how much and to what structural level the United States and its allies carry out broader measures—especially against tier-one banks, that is, the largest banks.”

🔸This possibility is of fundamental importance to the credibility of the new U.S. campaign.

Read the full text of this report on Radio Farda’s website.