U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent arrives at the G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in preparation for the June 2026 Summit at Evian in Paris, May 18, 2026.
Julian De Rosa | AFP | Getty Images
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday urged world leaders at the G7 meeting to support the U.S. fight against Iranian terrorism by “eradicating the sources of funding that sustain terrorism,” while offering new guidance for “aggressive and targeted” sanctions.
“To crush the threat of terrorism, we need all of you to rise up and join us,” Bessent said in a speech at the No Money for Terrorism conference in Paris, after arguing that the United States often fights alone.
The remarks follow earlier calls by President Donald Trump and other U.S. officials for more countries to join the ongoing war with Iran, which continues to wreak havoc on the global economy, even as the conflict appears to have reached an uneasy stalemate.
“No enemy has felt the power of America’s economic statecraft more devastatingly than Iran,” Bessent boasted at the conference, acknowledging that “a modernized sanctions structure” underpins what he calls “Operation Economic Rage.”
“We are reviewing outdated designations to help financial institutions focus on the most sophisticated terrorist financing and sanctions evasion schemes,” Bessent said. “Sanctions should not last so long that their intended effects produce unintended consequences. The most effective measures are proactive, targeted, and have time limits to promote specific effects.”
He said that through economic and military actions, the United States is blocking revenues from Iran’s weapons programs, terrorist proxies, and nuclear efforts, while disrupting “tens of billions of dollars in oil revenues projected by the regime.”
U.S. actions have disrupted Iran’s “illicit financial flows” on a large scale, freezing regime-linked cryptocurrencies, and “we are ramping up our crackdown on Iran’s shadow banking networks,” he said.
The Cabinet Secretary reiterated that the United States wants more countries to join the sanctions program. “We believe your participation today reflects our readiness to cooperate fully as the United States targets the financial networks that our adversaries use to carry out terrorism,” he said.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (C) poses for a family photo of G7 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting to prepare for the June 2026 Summit of Heads of State and Government at Evian in Paris on May 19, 2026. Photographed on May 19, 2026.
Kenzo Tribouillard | AFP | Getty Images
“This will require, for example, that our European partners join the United States in taking action against Iran, including by naming Iranian financiers, unmasking their shell and front companies, closing bank branches, and dismantling their agencies.”
“In short, if you share our outrage over Iran’s destabilizing policies, the terrorists who hold the global economy hostage, the poisoning of communities by drug cartels, and the threat to innocent lives, now is the time to act aggressively with the United States,” he said.
