US Treasury secretary says activities serving Iran have suddenly stopped

WASHINGTON — The US Treasury secretary said on 20 October 2026 that Washington knows everyone who provides services to the Iranian government and has seen a sudden halt in those activities, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.

The remarks were reported in a breaking-news post on the broadcaster's Telegram channel. The post is the only source for this report. Zenga News has not independently verified it.

According to the post, the secretary said: "We know everyone who provides services to the Iranian regime." The post said the secretary added that the US had "seen a sudden halt" in these activities. The wording here is a translation from Arabic.

What the source does not say

The Telegram post gives only the two statements above. It does not specify which services the secretary meant. It does not say whether they include oil shipments, shipping, insurance, finance or other work. It does not give the secretary's name, or say where or when the remarks were made beyond the time of the post.

The post does not say what caused the halt. It does not say whether sanctions, enforcement action or decisions by the companies involved played a part. It gives no figures, such as the number of firms, vessels or volumes of cargo affected.

Iranian officials had not responded to the remarks in the source material available to Zenga News. The post does not report any reaction from Tehran or from the companies concerned.

Background

The source material contains no background on US sanctions policy toward Iran. Zenga News is not adding context that the source does not support. This report will be updated if Al Jazeera or the US Treasury publishes the full remarks or a written statement.