US targets Egyptian bank’s UAE branches under new push for Iran’s economic isolation

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is taking steps to limit an Egyptian bank’s operations in the United Arab Emirates, accusing the financial institution of serving as an economic lifeline to Tehran’s leadership as the U.S. war against Iran reaches the six-month mark.

Under a new rule proposed Friday by the Treasury Department, the Emirati branches of Banque Misr, Egypt’s second-largest bank, would be severed from access to the U.S. financial system.

It follows Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s announcement this week of a new campaign to push countries that still do business with the already heavily sanctioned Islamic Republic to sever their financial ties or face retaliation from the United States.

In stopping short of imposing sanctions on the Egyptian bank, the move signals the Republican administration’s reluctance to penalize major trading partners that do business with Iran, including China and India. Bessent told reporters on Monday that he wanted countries to have an opportunity to shift away from Iran before it was too late in a bid to avoid upending the global financial system.

The rule will be subject to a 30-day public comment period before it takes effect, the Treasury Department said.

The administration “warned that Iran’s enablers cannot continue to enjoy access to the U.S. dollar and the global financial system,” Bessent said in a statement Friday. “Banque Misr UAE decided to find out the hard way, and today, we are taking the first step in holding it accountable for its continued, egregious support of the Iranian regime.”

Also Friday, the Treasury Department posted on its Office of Foreign Assets Control website new sanctions on the bank manager of the Dubai branch of Iran’s Bank Melli and a Hong Kong-based firm that the U.S. accuses of helping launder funds for Iran.

Bessent is set to represent the U.S. next week at Group of 20 finance ministers meetings, where he will meet individually with his counterparts from the world’s major and developing economies to encourage participation in the economic isolation of Iran.