US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that American authorities are likely to confiscate roughly one billion dollars in digital assets connected to Iran in the coming days. The remarks came during a discussion with Greta Van Susteren at Newsmax’s NPolicy Summit in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.
Bessent framed the planned action as one element of a broader strategy he described as an absolute isolation campaign aimed at cutting the Iranian regime off from external markets, transport routes, and financial channels.
According to Bessent, the administration has shifted from an earlier maximum-pressure approach to a more comprehensive quarantine.
He indicated that naval measures now prevent traffic from entering or leaving key waterways, while restrictions have been placed on international flights.
Coordinated efforts with the United Arab Emirates and Oman, along with work involving Pakistan and Turkey, seek to close overland corridors.
Bessent suggested these steps have already generated internal concern within Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, referencing recent reporting that members of the organization are experiencing unease among themselves.
He characterized the overall effort as unprecedented in scope.Bessent further predicted that Iranian oil shipments available for sale on the water would reach zero for the first time in the country’s modern petroleum history.
He also noted that senior figures associated with the regime face practical limits on foreign travel, describing a situation in which access to personal services or assets abroad has been constrained.
In this context, he turned to cryptocurrency holdings, stating that authorities know the location of the targeted funds and are working to isolate them.
He indicated that seizure of approximately one billion dollars in such assets would probably occur during the present week.
The announcement arrives amid ongoing US enforcement against Iranian-linked digital asset activity.
Earlier this year Bessent had referred to substantial prior seizures of cryptocurrency connected to Iranian entities, though official tallies around those actions varied between public comments and subsequent Treasury references.
Separate measures have included designation of multiple Iranian cryptocurrency exchanges and freezes involving stablecoin balances, often through coordination with issuers that can blacklist addresses.
The latest planned step was presented without specific identification of wallets, tokens, or the precise legal mechanism involved, and without clarification on whether the sum would be additive to previously reported amounts.
Bessent tied the cryptocurrency action to the larger isolation effort, asserting that economic and geographic constraints on the regime are already producing results. The comments formed part of a wider conversation on sanctions effectiveness and the administration’s use of financial tools alongside maritime, aviation, and land-route measures.