US Vice President JD Vance has lifted the veil on a discrete diplomatic campaign to penalise Iran over its attacks on maritime trade, claiming that a coalition of regional allies, including Turkey, Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, is quietly bolstering American efforts to clamp down on Tehran.

Speaking on September 3 at a White House press briefing, Vance pointed to an emerging, unacknowledged alignment designed to squeeze Iran’s economy and protect vital energy corridors in the Persian Gulf.

Quizzed on Operation Economic Outcast

During the meeting with the press, the following question was put to Vance: “I want to ask you about the announcement made by Secretary  [of the Treasury Scott] Bessent back on August the 24th, [on] the Economic Outcast Operation. Since that time, besides the UAE, has any other country joined in isolating Iran in that way? And secondly, how can that operation be successful if you don't have China coming on board and isolating Iran?”

Vance replied: “Well, first of all, you do have, I think, the Chinese, the PRC [People's Republic of China], being willing to play ball here. And we all know this, and I think it's an open secret for anybody who understands the People's Republic of China.”

He added: “And, of course, we have some policy disagreements. [Donald Trump] has a very good relationship with [Chinese] President Xi [Jinping], but obviously we have some misalignment of interests, some issues where the President has to pursue our interests at the expense of everybody else.

“They are not the sort of nation that shoots at commercial shipping because they're not getting their way in an international dispute. They are, in that way, I think, willing to be a little bit more responsible.”

Vance continued: “Again, I'm not saying they're doing everything that we've asked them to do, but I think that the PRC has been much more responsible, certainly than the Iranians, and much more responsible than a couple of other nations as well.”

“Privately they’re doing a lot of good things”

“But it's not just the PRC. If you look at Turkey, if you look at Azerbaijan, if you look at UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, a lot of the Gulf Arab coalition, but if you look all across the world, we're actually seeing a lot of countries, sometimes they're not willing to say so publicly, but privately they're doing a lot of good things to help us ensure that the Iranians pay a penalty for firing at commercial shipping.

“Now, I have to remind you, it's not just that they're paying a penalty when they fire at commercial shipping, it's also denying them the economic resources to rebuild their nuclear programme if they try to do so.”