US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday Washington is tracking what he described as a surge of capital flight by Iran’s ruling elite, as fears grow over the possible collapse of the Islamic Republic amid unrest and threats of a US strike.
"As Treasury who carries out the sanctions we can see is we are now seeing the rats fleeing the ship because we can see millions, tens of millions of dollars being wired out of the country, snuck out of the country by the Iranian leadership," Bessent said in an interview with Newsmax.
"So they are abandoning ship, and we are seeing it come into banks and financial institutions all over the world," the Treasury Secretary added.
Iran’s nationwide protests began in late December 2025 over economic grievances but quickly evolved into an openly regime-change movement, with demonstrators calling for the end of the Islamic Republic itself.
Security forces responded by using live fire against protesters, killing as many as 12,000 people, according to Iran International’s findings.
Still, threats by US President Donald Trump to launch strikes against Iran have left the fate of the country’s leaders in limbo.
'US will trace Iran leaders' assets abroad'
In his Wednesday interview, the US Treasury Secretary vowed to trace the huge sums of money wired out of Iran by the country's leaders.
"What we do at Treasury is we follow the money, whether it is through the banking system or through digital assets. We are going to trace these assets and they will not be able to keep them."
Separately, Israel's Channel 14 reported on Wednesday that Iran's leaders have transferred $1.5 billion to escrow accounts in Dubai over the past two days.
"1.5 billion dollars have been transferred out of Iran in the last hours, not through banks but via cryptocurrency with one clear destination: Dubai," the report said citing a source familiar with the Revolutionary Guard's economic activities.
The report alleged that the Supreme Leader's son and one of his potential successors Mojtaba Khamenei is one of the people involved in these transfers.
"He transferred about $328 million to that same destination," Channel 14 said citing the unnamed source.
Iran has increasingly leaned on cryptocurrency rails to move money abroad as sanctions and banking restrictions complicate traditional transfers.
US Treasury actions in 2025 described “shadow” networks using overseas fronts and crypto transactions tied to Iranian oil revenue, portraying digital assets as one way to bypass chokepoints in the regulated financial system.
Witnesses said security personnel entered medical centers, removed injured protesters for undisclosed locations and fired “finishing shots” at some of those left behind, describing scenes of bodies and wounded being loaded onto trucks without separation. Iran International could not independently verify the accounts.
Residents said the city fell into an uneasy calm on Monday after clashes on Thursday and Friday followed by two days of resistance by protesters over the weekend. Motorbike units and pickup trucks carrying security forces patrolled streets, while access to hospitals was heavily restricted, witnesses said.
A taxi driver who said he witnessed the violence near Gohardasht square on Thursday said security personnel loaded both dead and wounded protesters onto trucks. “The injured were not separated from the dead,” he said, adding that many were young people.
Families gathered outside hospitals including Kasra and Qassem Soleimani, where armed personnel blocked entrances and dispersed crowds, witnesses said.
At Behesht-e Sakineh cemetery, mourners reported restrictions on burials and said authorities halted the release of bodies to prevent public funerals.
Similar pressure on medical facilities was reported elsewhere.
In the northeastern city of Bojnourd, a nurse told Iran International that a local hospital had become heavily securitized, with normal shift schedules canceled and staff pressured to prioritize treatment for injured security personnel while protesters were turned away or left untreated.
Rights groups and media have reported security force raids on hospitals in other parts of Iran during the unrest, including incidents in the western city of Ilam.
