Treasury Secretary Bessent says US will freeze IRGC offshore assets and cut dollar access for helpers

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the United States will squeeze Iran's economy by freezing Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps offshore assets and threatening secondary sanctions on anyone who helps the regime, Fox Business reported from a G20 finance gathering.

Speaking with Fox Business host Larry Kudlow, Bessent said the administration has mapped IRGC accounts held through trust companies and luxury real estate holdings. He named the British Virgin Islands as one place where accounts sit and said the United States knows of roughly $100 million homes around the world tied to the network. Those assets will be frozen, he said, and can be directed to the Iranian people or to victims of terrorism, including families linked to the USS Cole attack.

Bessent said partners who break the embargo risk being cut out of the dollar system, U.S. banking channels, Federal Reserve wire services and SWIFT messaging. He pointed to action already taken against a bank in Dubai and said airline leasing firms and other businesses that deal with the IRGC are under review. The campaign follows President Donald Trump's call for an economic pressure drive against Tehran while U.S. forces also strike Iranian military targets tied to threats in the Strait of Hormuz.

Bessent said the goals include stopping a nuclear weapon, limiting highly enriched uranium, cutting proxy terror networks and protecting Gulf shipping. He said private talks with China stress shared interest in keeping nuclear weapons out of Iranian hands and keeping Hormuz open. Iran's economy already faces deep strain. Secondary sanctions raise the cost for banks and traders worldwide that still clear dollars.