Ankara: After nearly six months of war without a lasting settlement, Washington is once again turning to economic pressure in its campaign against Iran, seeking to further squeeze Tehran's oil revenues, trade, and access to the global financial system. The latest push came this week with Operation Economic Outcast, a campaign aimed at further isolating Iran financially and expanding the reach of US secondary sanctions.

According to Anadolu Agency, 'Around the globe, our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains this tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone,' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in announcing the measures. The campaign comes as Iran is already under intense economic pressure. Its Central Bank says oil exports have stopped, the rial has fallen to a record low, and the International Monetary Fund expects the economy to contract 6.1% this year.

At the center of Washington's economic pressure is Iran's oil trade, one of Tehran's main sources of export revenue and foreign currency. Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati said last week that Iran's oil exports had fallen to zero amid the war and sanctions. "There is no doubt that we face restrictions on oil exports," Hemmati said in a televised interview. "It is a reality that we are not exporting oil." The US restored its naval blockade against vessels traveling to and from Iranian ports on July 14 after a temporary easing of restrictions.

According to commodities intelligence firm Kpler, Iranian crude loadings fell from an average of 893,000 barrels per day in July to just 156,000 through Aug. 17. Hemmati's statement that exports have since fallen to zero suggests the pressure on Tehran's oil revenues has intensified further. Max Gillman, Friedrich A. Hayek Professor of Economic History at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, said the blockade is likely to remain Washington's main instrument of economic pressure.

Restricting Iran's ability to sell oil is only one side of Washington's strategy. The US can also make it more difficult for Tehran to access foreign currency it has already earned. Hemmati said the Iranian government and Central Bank had prepared for the loss of revenue but stressed that Iran faced an additional constraint because its foreign currency reserves remained blocked by Washington.

Washington can also target foreign companies, banks, and individuals that do business with sanctioned Iranian entities, potentially threatening their access to the US financial system. This week, the US Treasury announced new categories of Iranian economic activity that can expose foreign companies and individuals to sanctions, including digital assets, technology, gold, aviation, and shipping.

The IMF expects the economy to contract 6.1% in 2026, a downward revision of 7.2 percentage points from its January forecast, while average inflation is projected at 68.9%, up from 50.9% in 2025. Labor-market conditions have also deteriorated. Iran's official unemployment rate rose to 9.1% in the spring, while the number of employed people fell by around 450,000 from a year earlier.

There are limits both to how far Washington can push its economic leverage and what that pressure can ultimately achieve. Asked why the US was giving Iran's business partners an opportunity to halt targeted activities rather than immediately penalizing them, Bessent pointed to potential consequences for the wider financial system.

Although the blockade itself puts upward pressure on oil prices, Gillman said keeping crude within the $70-$80 range would support wider economic stability and limit additional export revenues for Russia. Yet despite the economic strain already facing Iran, nearly six months of war and pressure have so far failed to produce a lasting settlement.

The Islamic Republic's leadership has also long portrayed economic sacrifice and resistance to foreign pressure as part of defending the principles of the 1979 revolution. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic, famously captured that thinking after the 1979 revolution: "We did not make the revolution for cheap melons, we made it for Islam."