Treasury Says Iran Elites Wiring Millions Abroad After New U.S. Sanctions
Fox News reports that after the Treasury Department’s Jan. 15 move against Iranian 'shadow banking networks,' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says U.S. tracking has detected 'millions, tens of millions of dollars' being wired or otherwise moved out of Iran by regime leaders. Bessent characterizes this alleged capital flight as 'rats fleeing the ship' and says the funds are surfacing in banks and financial institutions worldwide, while a report on Israel’s Channel 14 — cited but not independently verified — claims Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba moved about $328 million abroad as part of an estimated $1.5 billion shift. Behnam Ben Taleblu of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies tells Fox the reports, if confirmed, underscore the need for U.S. authorities to aggressively 'monitor, block, freeze and seize' accounts tied to sanctioned figures and notes prior Iranian use of hubs in the UAE, Hong Kong and Singapore. The article also mentions unconfirmed social‑media claims about large Bitcoin transfers and frames the new sanctions as part of a broader Trump administration response to Iran’s deadly protest crackdown. While much of the movement described is still allegation and intelligence‑driven, the story sheds light on how Washington is trying to mesh financial surveillance with its Iran human‑rights and security policy.
📌 Key Facts
- On Jan. 15, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced new sanctions targeting Iranian 'shadow banking networks' that it says help elites steal and launder natural‑resource revenues.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox that officials now see 'millions, tens of millions of dollars' being wired out of Iran by leaders and described regime figures as 'rats fleeing the ship.'
- Israeli Channel 14, cited in the piece, claims Mojtaba Khamenei allegedly transferred about $328 million overseas as part of roughly $1.5 billion in recent elite capital flight, a figure not independently confirmed by Fox or U.S. officials.
- Analyst Behnam Ben Taleblu says the reports highlight the need for U.S. authorities to track and, where possible, freeze and seize assets tied to sanctioned Iranian figures and notes Iran’s long‑standing use of financial channels in the UAE, Hong Kong and Singapore.
📊 Relevant Data
US sanctions on Iran have contributed to a rise in poverty, with an estimated 40% of the population living below the poverty line as of 2024.
US Sanctions and Poverty in Iran — The Borgen Project
International sanctions have eroded Iran's middle class, with an average annual loss of 12 to 28 percentage points in middle-class population share between 2012 and 2019, projecting that without sanctions, the middle class would have been 84% of the population by 2019 instead of 56%.
Youth unemployment in Iran stood at around 22-23% in 2024, with young women experiencing significantly higher rates, such as 34.9% for women aged 20-24 in winter 2025.
Youth in Iran — Wikipedia
Sanctions have led to increased labor emigration from Iran, with negative economic effects including a 80% devaluation of the Rial against the US Dollar, rising poverty, and reduced exports and imports observed post-2012 sanctions.
International Sanctions and Labor Emigration: A Case Study of Iran — IZA - Institute of Labor Economics
The 2025-2026 Iranian protests have resulted in at least 3,308 confirmed deaths and over 24,000 arrests as of January 2026, with casualties including 22 minors and widespread involvement of students, pensioners, and Gen Z protesters.
Bloody crackdown appears to have quelled Iran protests for now — ABC News
📰 Source Timeline (1)
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