Key Takeaways
- Scott Bessent warned that Iran’s USDT tolls will next trigger market offsets from their accounts.
- After blocking billions under Operation Economic Fury, the US will seek to use Iranian assets to repair market allies.
- On June 6, ABC reported the Treasury may next use part of $100B in frozen assets to fund market war repairs.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Warns Iran Will Deepen Its Financial Downfall With New Attacks
The recent escalation in the conflict in the Middle East after a lengthy ceasefire period is already having effects on the world markets, and now the U.S. is warning about new moves to curb the Iranian regime’s war actions.
Scott Bessent, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, warned of the consequences of further attacks on the Trump administration’s allies in the Gulf, saying there would be economic repercussions.
On social media, Bessent stressed that the Iranian regime would lose the “zero-sum game” it is playing. “Any damage it inflicts on our allies in the Gulf will be paid for with funds extracted from Iranian Accounts,” he stated.
Aiming at the toll booth system that the Iranian regime has established to safeguard passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz with the establishment of the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, Bessent disclosed that any tolls paid would be “offset by funds extracted from their accounts.”
According to Iranian officials, some of these payments would have been made in crypto, specifically USDT, a dollar-pegged stablecoin.
“Every attack Iran launches will only deepen the economic and financial consequences it faces,” Bessent concluded.
Reports indicate that sanctions on Iran have resulted in over 100 billion in assets frozen all over the world. On June 5, Iran International claimed that $12 billion of these would become available to the Iranian regime if the parties agreed on a preliminary agreement.
In May, Bessent himself indicated that the U.S. had seized nearly $1 billion in crypto assets from the Iranian regime, hitting one of its alternative funding sources as part of Operation Economic Fury. “Just outright grabbed the wallets. Some of them may be typing in right now and might not realize that their wallet has been grabbed,” he commented.
While he has not directly stated that these frozen assets would be leveraged to offset Iran’s damages, on June 6, ABC’s Selina Wang cited a source stating the Treasury would “further consider whether Iranian assets could be used to support repairs for past damages.”
