Iran's leaders moving millions out of country as they 'abandon ship,' US Treasury chief reveals

Iranian leaders are moving tens of millions of dollars out of the country as they begin “abandoning ship” amid the deadly protests in Iran, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Newsmax on Wednesday. “We are now seeing the rats fleeing the ship, because we can see millions, tens of millions of dollars being wired out of the country, snuck out of the country by the Iranian leadership,” Bessent said. “So they are abandoning ship, and we are seeing it come into banks and financial institutions all over the world.

The ongoing protests in Iran began in response to the country’s plummeting economy, as the rial’s value fell to record lows. In the interview, Bessent attributed the downward spiral of the Iranian economy to the economic measures US President Donald Trump began implementing after being elected.

“We're quickly approaching the endgame of President Trump's plan that he put into effect almost immediately when he came into office. We've been applying a maximum pressure campaign on Iran's oil exports to cut off the sources of the regime's funding. And what we have seen in the past month is a total financial collapse of the regime.” After protests began, demonstrations broke out all over the country. The regime responded with deadly crackdowns. Iranian opposition outlet Iran International estimated that over 12,000 people were killed over the course of two days last week, however the true figure is unknown. (Read More)