Scott Bessent vows to ‘asphyxiate’ Iran economically, warns of freezing regime’s offshore assets

WASHINGTON, DC: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent didn’t hold back on Tuesday, September 1. He outlined a tough plan to squeeze Iran economically, making it clear the Trump administration stands ready to block banks, companies, and anyone else tied to Iran from using the US dollar system.

Sitting down with Fox Business’ Larry Kudlow at the G20 Finance Ministerial in Asheville, North Carolina, Bessent revealed that the US already traced offshore accounts and luxury properties connected to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Tracking IRGC assets around the world

Kudlow didn't tiptoe around the issue. He asked if countries ignoring the US naval blockade of Iranian ports should expect secondary sanctions, specifically, being cut out of the US banking system, the Federal Reserve wire, and SWIFT. Bessent didn't hesitate. That’s the plan, he said.

"That's what happened to this bank in Dubai, and it could be entities; it could be airline leasing companies, which we'll be looking at. It could be anyone who does business with the IRGC; we are tracking down the IRGC's assets, and I will say it on worldwide TV, just so you know," Bessent warned, "We know where in the British Virgin Islands your accounts are at these trust companies, we know the $100 million houses you have around the world, and we are going to freeze those."

He said the goal is to seize what he called the regime's "illegitimate assets" stolen from the Iranian people, with proceeds potentially redirected either back to Iranians or to victims of te**orism, citing the families of sailors killed in the USS Cole b**bing as one example.

"We are going to our partners; we are going to close all of that down. So we are going to go after the regime's illegitimate assets that they have stolen from the Iranian people, and those can go back to the Iranian people, or they can go to the victims of terror, like the families of the soldiers who are on the USS Cole," Bessent continued.

Part of a broader 'economic D-Day' campaign

Bessent’s remarks expand on a strategy he first laid out back on August 24.

At the time, he said the US planned to unleash the economic equivalent of the Allied military campaign that toppled Nazi Germany, targeting Iran, a line that matches President Trump’s talk of an “economic D-Day” against Tehran.

This pressure campaign zeroes in on a nation of over 90 million people, whose economy is already feeling serious stress.

"We will stop this regime's ability to have a nuclear weapon, to have their current highly-enriched uranium to project te**orist power through their proxy networks and to te**orize the Gulf," Bessent said. "And we are telling people, either you are with us or against us."

Asked about China's position, Bessent said Washington and Beijing share more common ground on Iran than is often assumed. “I said, we have more in common with the Chinese on Iran than we disagree with [them] on.”

The Chinese agree Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. The Chinese agree that there should be freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. So we have had private discussions with them in terms of achieving those goals."

His statement lands while the administration keeps ramping up both financial and military pressure on Tehran in the midst of ongoing conflict.