Treasury sanctions Iran as elites allegedly transfer tens of tens of millions overseas

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Members of Iran’s ruling elite are stated to have moved "tens of tens of millions of {dollars}" in a foreign country because the U.S. imposed contemporary sanctions over the regime’s violent protest crackdown, based on reports.

The regime's "capital flight" got here because the Treasury Division’s Workplace of International Property Management introduced on Jan. 15 in a release that it was taking "motion towards the shadow banking networks that enable Iran’s elite to steal and launder income generated by the nation’s pure assets."

"There are a number of reviews, a few of that are but to be confirmed, about capital flight in varied kinds from the Islamic Republic," Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow on the Basis for Protection of Democracies, instructed Fox Information Digital.

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Home Methods and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith despatched a letter to Treasury Secretary and appearing IRS chief Scott Bessent, pictured right here, and IRS CEO Frank Bisignano referring CAIR-California for IRS assessment. (Al Drago/Getty Photographs)

If confirmed, Ben Taleblu stated, the suspected exodus of cash underscores the necessity for U.S. authorities to trace and "freeze and seize" property tied to sanctioned figures.

"If capital flight has taken place, then these are accounts that the U.S. authorities must be seeking to monitor, block, freeze and seize," he stated.

"On the route of President Trump, the Treasury Division is sanctioning key Iranian leaders concerned within the brutal crackdown towards the Iranian folks. Treasury will use each instrument to focus on these behind the regime’s tyrannical oppression of human rights," Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent additionally stated in a statement on Jan. 15.

Bessent went on to disclose in an interview how his division had tracked the wiring of "tens of tens of millions of {dollars}" out of Iran by leaders.

"We at the moment are seeing the rats fleeing the ship, as a result of we will see tens of millions, tens of tens of millions of {dollars} being wired in a foreign country, snuck in a foreign country by the Iranian management," Bessent added.

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Treasury sanctions goal Iran's shadow banking as Mojtaba Khamenei allegedly transferred tens of millions abroad, ( QASSEM AL-KAABI/AFP through Getty Photographs)

"So they're abandoning ship, and we're seeing it come into banks and monetary establishments all around the world," he added.

Iranian figures have been stated to be shifting giant sums overseas, with Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei allegedly transferring roughly $328 million abroad as a part of an estimated $1.5 billion shift in latest days, Channel 14 reported.

"There have been additionally some reviews on social media about giant volumes of Bitcoin being transferred, or different kinds of monetary property. I haven’t been in a position to independently affirm that, however it's one thing that’s being mentioned," Ben Taleblu added.

"The truth that the Treasury Division is this tells you fairly severely that Washington can also be making an attempt to hyperlink its international financial coverage with its nationwide safety coverage," he stated.

Ben Taleblu additionally claimed Iran’s shadow banking system has been deeply embedded in international finance, with billions of {dollars} routed by way of jurisdictions "together with the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and Singapore."

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Trump is weighing U.S. choices to answer Iran's crackdown on protesters. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photograph;Toby Melville/Reuters)

"Previously, Washington has tracked the regime’s shadow banking actions, which, sadly, even embody commerce and cash laundering by way of friendlier, extra Western-leaning jurisdictions," Ben Taleblu defined.

"In reality, the Treasury Division recognized virtually $9 billion of Iranian shadow banking activity that touched U.S. correspondent accounts all through 2024," he stated.

Ben Taleblu added that the financial strain marketing campaign locations renewed consideration on President Donald Trump ’s subsequent transfer.

"All eyes proper now are on President Trump to see if he takes a web page from the Reagan playbook, the Obama playbook, or one thing else totally," Ben Taleblu stated.

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"The million-dollar query is whether or not there will likely be one thing kinetic, particularly after essentially the most violent crackdown against protesters within the Islamic Republic’s historical past."

"Financial sanctions are useful and obligatory," he added, "however they're nowhere close to ample to degree the taking part in subject between the road and the state."

Emma Bussey is a breaking information author for Fox Information Digital. Earlier than becoming a member of Fox, she labored at The Telegraph with the U.S. in a single day crew, throughout desks together with international, politics, information, sport and tradition.