Bessent Says US Will Sanction Unnamed 'Large Bank' on Monday, Sept 14, as Iran Pressure Campaign Escalates

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration will sanction an unnamed "large bank" on Monday, Sept 14, the latest step in Washington's economic pressure campaign against Iran, according to CNBC and The Straits Times, citing Reuters. Bessent did not identify the bank or the country where it is based.

What Bessent Said

Bessent made the remarks on Sept 10 during an appearance on "Real America's Voice," according to both outlets. He gave no name for the institution, its home jurisdiction, or the legal mechanism Treasury intends to use, leaving the announcement itself as the confirmed fact rather than any specific target.

Bessent framed the coming action as part of a broader effort to isolate Tehran financially. "We are just going to continue with this process until everyone stops dealing with this regime," he said, according to the Straits Times/Reuters account. "We will make it so unprofitable that if you want to risk an extinction-level event for your company or for your person, your personal finances, then have at it. But we are coming for you."

Recent Precedents in the Pressure Campaign

Bessent pointed to two earlier actions as examples of the administration's approach. According to CNBC's reporting on his remarks, he said the administration had sanctioned and closed the Dubai, United Arab Emirates branches of the second-largest bank in Egypt, which he said is believed to have given Iranians $1.8 billion of funds. Neither the bank's name nor further detail on the transfers was provided in the sourced remarks.

He also referenced the sanctioning of what he called the "30th-largest Turkish bank" for allegedly giving funds to Iranians, again without naming the institution. CNBC's reporting notes that the Treasury Department said on Sept 4 it was sanctioning Turkey-based Golden Global Yatirim Bankasi Anonim Sirketi and its subsidiaries, though the article carries a correction clarifying that Bessent's own description was of the bank's ranking as 30th-largest, after an earlier version of the story misstated that figure.

Operation Economic Outcast and the Wider Sanctions Push

The Sept 14 action would follow what Bessent has called "Operation Economic Outcast," an August escalation that imposed sanctions on nearly 60 entities, individuals and vessels, according to reporting from both CNBC and the Straits Times/Reuters. That effort also expanded the scope of secondary sanctions on parties doing business with Iran across sectors including shipping, aviation, technology, gold and digital assets, per the Straits Times/Reuters account.

More broadly, since the Middle East conflict began in February, US measures against Iran have targeted oil exports, shipping networks, weapons procurement channels, financial intermediaries, digital asset exchanges and aviation links, according to the Straits Times/Reuters report and corroborated by CNBC.

The Broader Conflict Backdrop

The bank sanction is set to land more than six months into a conflict with no announced end date in the sourced reporting. President Trump predicted on Sept 9 that the war will not end until after November's US midterm elections, according to the Straits Times/Reuters report. CNBC separately reported that Trump has said the war will end immediately after the midterm elections and that oil and gas prices will also fall, adding to his months-long claims that the conflict will end soon.

Separately, CNBC reported that Trump told Fox News he has no regrets about starting the Iran war, saying, "If I had it to do again, I would do exactly what I did," and adding of Iran's capacity to withstand economic pressure, "I don't know that they're gonna be able to hold out." CNBC's reporting also cited a Wall Street Journal account describing discussions among top White House advisors with Trump about the possibility that the conflict could extend beyond his current term, a scenario CNBC said markets are now bracing for.

Bottom Line

The only firm fact at this stage is Bessent's statement that a large bank will be sanctioned on Sept 14, without a name, nationality or legal basis disclosed. The administration's track record this year, including the Egypt-based bank's Dubai branches and the Turkish institution identified by Treasury on Sept 4, suggests continuity in targeting financial intermediaries linked to Iran, but any assumption about which bank, sector or region is next remains speculative until Treasury issues its own designation. Readers should treat the Monday timeline as reported by Bessent rather than as a scheduling detail Treasury has independently confirmed in the sourced material.