The U.S. Is Targeting Tehran’s Remaining Financial Lifelines With New Sanctions

The Trump administration expanded its economic campaign against Iran, imposing new sanctions on the country's automotive and rail industries while targeting foreign companies accused of helping Tehran sustain its industrial base and evade U.S. restrictions.

The Treasury Department said the measures are part of "Operation Economic Outcast," an intensified sanctions campaign launched in August to cut off revenue and financial channels available to the Iranian government amid the ongoing conflict. The latest action also reaches companies in China, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Indonesia and Germany.

Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, issued new sectoral sanctions determinations covering Iran's automotive and rail industries. The move gives the agency authority to sanction individuals and companies operating in those sectors.

"The Iranian regime's ability to fund its war machine and inflict terror on the world has been severely diminished thanks to Operation Economic Outcast," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. He added that the latest measures were intended to target Iran's economic "enablers."

Among the most significant targets are Iran Khodro Company and SAIPA Iranian Automobile Manufacturing Company, which Treasury said together account for "over 90 percent of Iran's domestic auto market." Their subsidiaries, including Iran Khodro Diesel, Pars Khodro and Zamyad, were also designated.

Treasury described the automotive industry as Iran's largest economic sector outside oil and gas and alleged that it is "a lucrative cash cow for the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] to siphon funds from an ostensibly commercial venture." Despite losing more than $1 billion annually, according to Treasury, the sector remains an important source of industrial activity and revenue.

Washington also targeted foreign suppliers accused of providing parts to Iranian manufacturers. Those include UAE-based Integrated Auto Parts LLC, Hong Kong-based Hessenberg Co. and Tanex Global Trading Hong Kong Limited, Indonesia's PT Golden Motorcycle International and Turkey-based Troy Trading Arac Parcalari Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi.

The sanctions also move directly into Iran's rail industry. Treasury designated the state-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Railway Company, Raja Passenger Trains Company and freight operator Sherkat-E Rah Ahan-E Khamle-O-Naghle. The department said Iran has increasingly relied on rail transportation "to help sustain its economy in the face of the U.S. military's maritime blockade, including to transport oil and sustain regional trade."

Metals and manufacturing networks were also swept into Thursday's action. Treasury designated Heavy Equipment Production Company, or HEPCO, as well as its China-based subsidiary, HEPCO Shanghai. Other targets included two China-based steel companies, Shanghai Ruimi Import and Export Trade Co. and M and R Steel Co., along with companies involved in Iranian steel and industrial trade.

In a separate but related action Thursday, Treasury moved against the A7 Network, which it described as "a shadow banking network with ties to Russia used by the Iranian regime to evade sanctions." OFAC designated A7 as a significant transnational criminal organization, while the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed restrictions targeting transactions involving the network's sub-agents.

Treasury said those sub-agents processed more than $17 billion between January 2025 and June 2026. According to the department, parts of the network have facilitated Iranian oil sales and weapons procurement and helped disguise sanctioned transactions as legitimate commercial activity.