The United States has claimed it seized close to $500 million worth of Iranian cryptocurrency assets as part of its ongoing economic pressure campaign against Tehran.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington had already taken control of about $350 million in crypto holdings, along with another $100 million recently, bringing the total close to half a billion dollars.
“We were able to grab about 350 million crypto assets, and then on top of another 100 that we had recently gotten, so we’re almost at half a billion there, and we are freezing bank accounts everywhere,” he told Fox News.
Bessent said the campaign, dubbed “Operation Economic Fury,” was launched under the direction of US President Donald Trump in March last year, with instructions to intensify pressure further in recent weeks. As part of the effort, the US is also urging foreign governments and companies to cut economic ties with Iran.
“We have gone to the buyers of Iranian oil and told them that … we are willing to do secondary sanctions on your industries, on your banks who tolerate Iranian oil in their system,” he said.
According to Bessent, the combined impact of economic sanctions and the US naval blockade on Iranian ports is expected to cause long-term damage to Iran’s economy.
Iran, however, has dismissed the claims and criticised the US strategy. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf mocked Bessent’s remarks, calling his advice to Trump “junk” in a post on X, while officials in Tehran argue that such measures could instead drive global oil prices higher.
“3 days in, no well exploded.We could extend to 30 and livestream the well here. That was the kind of junk advice the US admin gets from people like Bessent who also push the blockade theory and cranked oil up to $120+. Next stop:140. The issue isn’t the theory, it’s the mindset,” Ghalibaf added.