US claims seizure of nearly $500 million in Iranian crypto assets

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent

The United States has seized “close to half a billion” worth of Iranian cryptocurrency assets, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has claimed, saying the move is part of an intensified economic pressure campaign against Tehran.

“We were able to grab about 350 million crypto assets, and then on top of another 100 that we had recently gotten, so we’re almost at half a billion there, and we are freezing bank accounts everywhere,” Bessent told Fox News.

He said US President Donald Trump ordered the economic pressure drive in March last year and instructed him to “up the pressure again” about three weeks ago.

According to Bessent, the campaign has now expanded to pressuring foreign governments and companies to sever financial and trade links with Iran.

“We have gone to the buyers of Iranian oil and told them that … we are willing to do secondary sanctions on your industries, on your banks who tolerate Iranian oil in their system,” he said.

He further claimed that the ongoing economic measures, along with a US naval blockade on Iranian ports, would cause long-term damage to Iran’s economy.

Iran has dismissed the US claims, arguing that the campaign would only push global oil prices higher. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf also criticised Bessent, calling his advice to Trump “junk” in a post on X. 

Source:  Al Jazeera via UNB