US treasury secretary Scott Bessent has moved out of his home in Washington, DC, and relocated to a military base after Iranian threats against his life, according to multiple reports.
US officials have taken serious note of targeted threats against individuals, including an alleged murder-for-hire plot against President Donald Trump during the 2024 presidential campaign While Iran’s ability to carry out large-scale attacks has been limited. Because of its collapsing economy, he assessed that Iran was desperate to make a deal.
In recent weeks, US officials concluded that Iranian threats against current and former American officials had reached a more “advanced stage”, based partly on intelligence about threats to Bessent, according to a New York Times report. A senior administration official told Fox News that Bessent and his family have moved to the military base. Since August, Bessent has led an aggressive pressure campaign to impose tougher sanctions on Iran and restrictions on trade routes in a bid to isolate the Islamic Republic financially amid the ongoing war in the Middle East, making him one of the US officials that Tehran most wants to harm, according to the NYT report. In late September, Bessent said Iran will have ” nothing left to trade for anything ” as the Trump administration intensified its economic pressure against the regime with a naval blockade in the strategically important Strait of Hormuz as part of ‘Operation Economic Outcast’. Despite Bessent insisting that the campaign was shrinking Iran’s economy, US intelligence said economic pain may not lead to regime change as the country’s hard-line leadership is determined to hold on to power at nearly any cost.
Because of intelligence showing Iran was in the advanced stages of planning attacks against Americans, last month, the US government put employees on heightened alert across the Middle East and moved to reduce personnel levels at embassies and consulates.
However, he said the military was “locked and loaded” to resume strikes if needed.
Trump had earlier signalled that the US was unlikely to take further large-scale military action in Iran, saying Washington wanted to maintain the status quo in the region.
