Politics
NEW: US Severs Iran’s ‘Financial Lifeline’ In Major Blow To Regime
The Trump administration delivered another major economic blow to Iran on Friday, sanctioning a Turkish bank accused of helping Tehran move oil money from China into the hands of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Treasury Department targeted Istanbul-based Golden Global Bank as part of its widening effort to choke off the Iranian regime’s access to cash and the international financial system.
U.S. officials allege the bank helped move proceeds from Iranian oil sales to China through a shadow financial network that ultimately benefited the IRGC and its elite Quds Force.
The action marks another escalation in Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s Operation Economic Outcast, a pressure campaign aimed at cutting off the money Tehran uses to evade sanctions, sell oil and finance its operations abroad.
“Financial institutions continue to find out the hard way that we are serious about Operation Economic Outcast,” Bessent said of Friday’s action.
He made clear that Washington’s warning extends far beyond a single bank.
“While we hope no more banks will need to be sanctioned, that ultimately depends on how quickly the international community comes to its senses and ceases support of the murderous Iranian regime,” he added.
BREAKING FROM SEC. SCOTT BESSENT: We have sanctioned another bank tied to Iran. Last week, we sanctioned an Egyptian bank with five Dubai branches that gave the regime $1.8 BILLION.
We’ll sanction another bank today, and we will probably sanction another bank next week.
We know… pic.twitter.com/97GYqZzR5I
— Bannon’s WarRoom (@Bannons_WarRoom) September 4, 2026
“We know who you are, we know where you are, and we will continue to take action together with our allies and partners until we have buried the head of the Iranian snake.”
Golden Global Bank was founded in 2019 and operates in NATO member Turkey. The financial institution describes itself as “Turkey’s first investment bank that conducts all its activities in accordance with interest-free finance principles.”
Despite its relatively small market share, Treasury officials say the bank played an important role in a much larger Iranian financial network.
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Acting Treasury Department Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Gene Lange said the institution had already been put on notice.
“This bank has been warned for years,” Lange said.
“We have repeatedly warned these entities, and today’s action makes clear that those warnings have consequences. This is a message to everyone else: the secretary means every single word he said at the press conference announcing Operation Economic Outcast.”
Treasury determined that Golden Global was allegedly connected to Iran’s shadowy “rahbar” exchange network, which officials say uses front organizations to move oil revenues from China into Turkey before converting the money into cash and gold.
The department said that the bank and its subsidiaries “facilitated tens of millions of dollars’ worth of transactions for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) and provide the Iranian regime with key correspondent banking access that allows it to move its funds internationally.”
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The sanctions effectively cut Golden Global off from the international financial system and, according to Treasury, have “severed the Iranian regime’s critical financial lifelines” in Turkey.
The move is especially notable because Turkey is a NATO ally. It is believed to be the first time the United States has imposed sanctions on a Turkish bank, although federal prosecutors previously charged Halkbank in 2019 with helping Iran evade sanctions.
That case ended in a legal settlement earlier this year.
It was not immediately clear whether the Turkish government would move to seize or restrict Golden Global’s assets following the U.S. action.
The Treasury Department has already taken similar steps against financial institutions elsewhere, including entities in the United Arab Emirates accused of providing banking access to Iranian clients.
The latest sanctions show the Trump administration is expanding its campaign beyond Iran itself and putting foreign banks on notice that helping Tehran move money could come at the cost of access to the U.S.-dominated financial system.
