US warns Iran’s trading partners they must choose between Tehran and the American market.By World Israel News StaffThe Trump administration is pressing governments and businesses across Europe and the Middle East to sharply curtail economic ties with Iran or risk losing access to the US financial system, as Washington expands a sanctions campaign that has already disrupted Iranian banking and air travel.Jonathan Burke, the US Treasury Department’s assistant secretary for terrorist financing, spent two weeks traveling through the region as part of the campaign, with American officials holding discussions with more than 50 countries.“You either trade with Washington, or with Iran,” Burke told governments and businesses dealing with Tehran.The warning reflects an increasingly aggressive use of secondary sanctions, which allow Washington to penalize foreign companies, banks and other entities even when they are not American if they continue certain transactions with sanctioned Iranian institutions.The pressure campaign, formally launched in August under the name Operation Economic Outcast, is aimed at cutting Iran off from international banking, transportation and commercial networks.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the initiative at its launch as an effort to sever Tehran’s remaining economic connections.“Our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains this tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone,” Bessent said.The administration has since targeted Iranian banks, airlines, cryptocurrency infrastructure and companies accused of helping Tehran evade sanctions or finance armed groups in the Middle East.Burke began his recent regional tour in Oman, which has repeatedly served as an intermediary between Washington and Tehran.His visit was intended in part to demonstrate that the administration was prepared not only to announce sanctions but to enforce them against foreign institutions that continued facilitating Iranian commerce.“We’re seeing a new urgency from our partners,” Burke said. “They’re taking it very seriously.”Several governments have subsequently imposed new restrictions affecting Iranian businesses.The United Arab Emirates has suspended flights by Iranian airlines, while Oman and Turkey have halted incoming flights operated by Mahan Air, the privately owned Iranian carrier long sanctioned by Washington over allegations that it has transported personnel and equipment for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.Other countries, including Iraq, Azerbaijan and Georgia, have also reportedly restricted Iranian flights.The measures follow a sweeping Sept. 8 US sanctions package targeting all remaining active Iranian airlines as well as foreign companies and intermediaries accused of supporting the country’s aviation sector.Washington argues that Iranian commercial aviation has been used to move weapons, personnel and sanctioned technology.The Treasury Department warned at the time that companies providing services to Iranian airlines — including airport operators and sales agents — could face sanctions exposure.The pressure has spread to banking.The UAE central bank this month blocked local branches of Iran’s state-owned Bank Melli from processing transactions to and from Iran, citing violations related to money laundering, terrorism financing and weapons proliferation controls.Turkey separately revoked the operating license of Iran’s Bank Mellat, another institution that has faced Western sanctions.Washington has also targeted banks outside Iran that it says have helped Tehran retain access to the international financial system.In August, US authorities moved to restrict the American correspondent banking access of Banque Misr UAE, alleging it had processed billions of dollars in transactions associated with the Iranian government.Bessent said Iran’s foreign partners were being forced to reconsider whether maintaining ties with Tehran was worth risking their access to the dollar and American markets.“Whether they finance terror, launder money, or help Iran evade sanctions, we will find them, cut them off from the US financial system, and dismantle the networks keeping the regime afloat,” he said earlier this month.The campaign has also extended into cryptocurrency.US authorities sanctioned an Iranian digital asset exchange and several associated individuals on Sept. 17, alleging that the network helped Tehran evade conventional financial restrictions.The administration’s strategy appears designed not simply to sanction Iranian entities individually but to make doing business with Iran increasingly difficult for third countries.The United States has considerable leverage because international trade remains heavily dependent on access to the dollar, US banks and the American market.Foreign financial institutions targeted by secondary sanctions can find themselves effectively locked out of dollar transactions even if they have no physical presence in the United States.Iranian leaders have acknowledged the economic impact while insisting that the pressure will not force Tehran to capitulate.“We will die, but we will not bow our heads,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said as he defended Iran’s position amid the escalating pressure.Pezeshkian has also accused Washington of using sanctions and military force to compel Tehran to surrender its political and strategic positions.The campaign has not completely isolated the country.Iranian airlines continue operating some international services, particularly toward China, which has rejected unilateral US sanctions, while air links with Russia and several other countries remain available.Iranian carriers also continue serving destinations including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Armenia, Belarus, Tajikistan and Malaysia, according to Iranian aviation reports.China is particularly important to Tehran because of its role as a major buyer of Iranian oil and its ability to provide financial and commercial channels outside the Western banking system.The post ‘Washington or Iran’ – Trump administration lays down ultimatum to dozens of trading partners appeared first on World Israel News.