Trump Launches Economic Fury Sanctions Campaign Against Iran

President Donald Trump launched a comprehensive economic campaign titled "Economic Fury" in May 2026 to dismantle Iran's financial networks and shadow fleet. The initiative, led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, targeted the Amin Exchange and a network of front companies in China, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates, and Hong Kong. The U.S. Treasury Department blocked 19 vessels and designated 12 individuals and 29 entities to disrupt Iranian oil and petrochemical exports. Concurrent actions included freezing nearly half a billion dollars in cryptocurrency and a $15 million reward offer from the State Department to expose the financial mechanisms of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

During a G7 meeting and the "No Money for Terror" conference in Paris, Bessent urged international allies to shutter Iranian banking operations and designate financiers to deny the regime resources for terrorism. While the U.S. maintained maximum economic pressure, Trump delayed scheduled military attacks on May 19 following requests from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, noting that the conflict could end quickly through "serious negotiations.

Iran responded by proposing a peace deal that requested the withdrawal of U.S. forces and reparations for damages. However, President Masoud Pezeshkian condemned U.S. demands—which include restricting Iran to one nuclear site—as "unlawful." Tensions escalated further with a drone strike on the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in Abu Dhabi and Iran's introduction of a new fee-based traffic management system for commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.