Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had a four-letter answer for the regime in Tehran after learning just how serious its threats against him had become.
Appearing on CNBC's Squawk Box, Bessent confirmed that he had moved to a military base after Iranian threats against his life. Rather than backing down, he vowed to keep pressing Operation Economic Outcast, the administration's sweeping effort to cut Tehran off from the global economy.
"F the Iranian leadership," Bessent declared, making clear that neither he nor his fellow Cabinet members would be intimidated. "It means what we are doing with Operation Economic Outcast is working."
The Treasury chief asked why he should be afraid when American service members stationed in the Persian Gulf and President Donald Trump himself face similar dangers as a matter of routine. He cast the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a force growing more desperate by the day.
"What we're doing is working," he said, describing the IRGC as "like a dangerous cornered animal." It was a blunt assessment of an adversary that has spent decades exporting terror across the region.
Bessent explained that the decision to leave his private residence came on the advice of the Secret Service. His confirmation followed a report earlier in the week that the threats had escalated to the point that he and his family relocated to military housing.
"Threats against Sec. Bessent reached more than an advanced stage, which is why he and his family made the move," a senior administration official said, according to Fox News. The episode has put a spotlight on Bessent's central role in the economic offensive designed to starve Tehran of the money it uses to sustain its military and terrorist proxies.
Bessent also took aim at The Wall Street Journal for publishing an aerial photograph of his Georgetown home in January 2025. He said the newspaper ran the image even though his team had asked that it be withheld for security reasons.
He called the decision "highly irresponsible and dangerous." He went further still, likening the paper's news operation to the "TMZ of financial news."
The threats arrive as Operation Economic Outcast, launched in late August, steps up the administration's drive to sever Tehran's remaining financial lifelines. At the same time, the U.S. naval blockade continues to choke off Iranian oil exports.
Those measures followed a military campaign that devastated much of Iran's conventional forces and its defense-industrial base. Washington then imposed the blockade and widened financial restrictions to keep the regime from rebuilding its military power.
Treasury has gone after financial institutions handling Iranian transactions across the Middle East and beyond. Foreign banks and businesses that keep supporting Tehran have been warned they risk being shut out of the U.S. financial system.
Later Friday, Bessent laid out the campaign's global reach in remarks at the Heritage Foundation's Forum 2026, as reported by Breitbart. He pointed to action against an Egyptian bank operating in Dubai that he said had moved $1.8 billion for Iran over the prior year, along with a major Turkish bank and the international branches of a leading Russian bank.
He said the administration had also clamped down on international flights, limiting the ability of Revolutionary Guard members to travel abroad to see relatives or romantic partners or to reach overseas financial assets. Bessent tied those restrictions directly to the threats, telling the audience they were among the reasons IRGC members wanted him dead.
The secretary painted a grim picture of Iran's economy. He said the rial had collapsed from roughly 600,000 to the dollar in March 2025 to 3 million, while inflation neared 200 percent and gasoline shortages left drivers waiting hours for fuel.
For the first time in its history as an oil producer, Bessent said, Iran has no oil shipments on the water. He argued that the combination of financial pressure and the blockade has stripped Tehran of its main source of revenue.
The blockade has effectively halted Iranian exports while commercial traffic continues through the Strait of Hormuz under American protection. Bessent said that on some nights more crude now passes through the waterway than before the conflict began.
According to figures U.S. Central Command released Wednesday, nearly 4,000 commercial vessels have carried about 1.7 billion barrels of crude through the strait under American protection. Iranian exports over the same period stand at zero, according to Bessent.
Bessent said Tehran squandered its chance to win better terms from Washington before last week's midterm elections. As American leverage has grown, he explained, the President's interest in a deal has faded.
Iran "probably would have gotten a better deal before the election," Bessent said. "Now President Trump doesn't think we need a deal, and we're just going to keep squeezing them."
That view echoed President Trump's own declaration on Thursday that Washington no longer needs an agreement with Tehran. The President pointed to the regime's deteriorating position under sustained American economic and military pressure.
In a separate interview with Stephen A. Smith released Thursday, President Trump said Saudi Arabia and other Gulf allies had urged him to give the economic campaign more time before expanding military operations. He named Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain as favoring continued pressure while Iran's economy unravels.
Asked whether he would otherwise have widened military operations against Iran, the President answered, "Yes, I would." The remark underscored that the economic squeeze is, for now, the preferred tool rather than the only one.
Bessent accused Tehran of failing to honor a memorandum of understanding reached in Islamabad over the summer. He cited that breach as one more reason Washington has little incentive to soften its demands.
Even so, Bessent predicted that Iran's worsening conditions will eventually drive the regime back to the table. "Eventually gravity is going to kick in. It's going to be a long, cold winter for the Iranians," he warned.
As for whether the military and economic campaign has been worth its cost, Bessent left no doubt. "100% it was worth it. President Trump took action that had been needed for 47 years," he declared.
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