In the shadow of stalled diplomacy and renewed military exchanges, the United States has turned to the architecture of global finance as its primary instrument of coercion against Iran. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, speaking ahead of a G20 gathering in Asheville, announced that another bank would face sanctions this week under a campaign called Operation Economic Outcast — a name that reveals both the method and the ambition. History reminds us that when nations cannot speak to one another, they often speak through markets, and Washington is now betting that the accumulated weight of finan