Who are Iran’s top trading partners US would need to target to isolate it?

What the report says

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has announced a new sanctions package against Iran, described by Al Jazeera as “Operation Economic Outcast,” expanding pressure to shipping, gold, aviation, technology and digital assets. The stated goal, according to the report, is to cut Tehran off from key economic channels as President Donald Trump urges other governments to stop dealing with Iran.

Al Jazeera said the move comes against a backdrop of Iran’s trade shifting away from Europe and toward a smaller set of Asian and regional partners after years of sanctions. Using official customs data compiled by Trade Data Monitor, the report outlined the countries most important to Iran’s export and import flows in 2024, while noting that these figures do not capture much of the unrecorded oil trade.

On the export side, China was Iran’s largest buyer, followed by Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Turkiye and Afghanistan. On the import side, the UAE was the biggest supplier, ahead of China, Turkiye, the European Union and India. The article said these relationships matter because they support Iran’s oil sales, energy supplies, access to re-exported goods and cross-border trade routes, making them potential pressure points for any U.S. effort to isolate the country further.