Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent joins ‘Mornings with Maria’ to discuss the Trump administration’s crackdown on government fraud, mounting economic pressure on Iran, the AI race with China and the outlook for the U.S. economy.
The Trump administration has successfully tracked down the ayatollah’s “money man,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed to FOX Business on Tuesday, detailing plans to publicly expose more than $100 million in properties linked to Iran’s supreme leader around the world.
“We have found the money man for the ayatollah. We are tracking the ayatollah’s properties around the world,” Bessent told “Mornings With Maria.”
“We hope to soon be able to print his $100 million-plus properties and show the addresses, and we’re preserving this money for the American people.”
MAJOR DISPUTE TO THREATEN TRUMP’S IRAN DEAL OVER BILLIONS IN FROZEN TEHRAN FUNDS: EXPERT
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent arrives to testify before the House Ways and Means Committee in the Longworth House Office Building on June 4 in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The Trump Treasury chief said the effort is part of the administration’s broader “Economic Fury” campaign against Iran, a “one-two punch” combined with the military “Epic Fury” campaign that rattled the region.
“Economic Fury,” he said, aims to dismantle the regime’s financial network by tracking overseas assets, freezing accounts and ratcheting up economic pressure following recent military operations.
Bessent said officials are pursuing Iranian assets across the globe while working to choke off the regime’s access to funding, arguing the pressure campaign has already helped drive Iran’s currency to record lows against the U.S. dollar and fueled soaring inflation inside the country.
TRUMP’S 60-DAY IRAN DEAL REACHES HALFWAY MARK AS CEASEFIRE COLLAPSES INTO ESCALATING WAR
An Iranian flag amid rubble and debris in Tehran. (Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images)
“[Their currency] is at an all-time low versus the dollar. It’s in freefall, and we think the inflation rate is upwards of 180% in Iran,” he said.
“So, the government is causing the people to suffer, and we’re going to keep pressing, but we’re also going to marshal the resources and save the resources that we recover for the Iranian people when we get on the other side of this.”
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
FDD Iran Program senior director and senior fellow Behnam Ben Taleblu discusses next steps in the Iranian conflict on ‘The Bottom Line.’
Bessent added that Treasury is also targeting Iran’s oil revenues, pointing to sanctions on Chinese “teapot” refineries and what he described as a roughly 40% decline in China’s purchases of Iranian crude in recent months, which he said has intensified financial pressure on the regime.