Bessent Says EU Joined US Sanctions Push to Isolate Iran's Economy

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the EU has "officially joined" Operation Economic Outcast, the US-led campaign to cut Iran off from the global banking system, though the EU's own statement stops short of full commitment and instead calls for renewed diplomacy. The claim comes amid a six-month US-Iran conflict marked by a collapsing rial, fuel shortages, and Iranian ballistic strikes on US bases in Jordan, showing economic isolation and open military confrontation now operating together as pressure tools against Tehran. This tightening alliance between US financial pressure and European backing signals a widening front in a regional confrontation drawing in surrounding states.