BUTOLPOST – WASHINGTON – The United States government claims to have confiscated cryptocurrency assets linked to Iran worth around 1 billion US dollars or the equivalent of IDR 17.8 trillion. The move is said to be part of Washington’s ongoing financial pressure on Tehran.
United States Minister of Finance, Scott Bessent, said that his party had succeeded in controlling crypto assets suspected of being connected to Iran’s financial network.
“I believe we have confiscated approximately $1 billion worth of their crypto assets,” Bessent said in a statement on Friday.
According to him, the confiscation process was carried out so effectively that some asset owners were said to be unaware that their digital wallets had been taken over by US authorities.
Bessent emphasized that the US government is not only focusing on crypto assets, but is also coordinating with allied countries in Europe to confiscate various other assets suspected of being related to the Iranian government and individuals on the sanctions list.
“We are working with allies across Europe to seize villas, houses and property,” he said.
He claimed that the assets targeted for confiscation came from funds that should belong to the Iranian people.
Apart from that, Bessent also stated that Iran’s oil export facilities on Kharg Island had stopped operating due to pressure and blockade by the United States.
On the same occasion, he said that US diplomatic relations with Gulf region countries were increasingly strengthening. According to him, a number of Gulf countries have now become important partners in efforts to pressure Iran through economic and financial channels.
With this support, the US is said to have greater room to freeze accounts linked to Iran in the Middle East region.
The US Treasury Secretary’s latest statement marks the intensification of Washington’s strategy to pressure Tehran through economic sanctions, freezing assets and monitoring international financial transactions amidst ongoing geopolitical tensions.
This step is expected to further worsen relations between the United States and Iran, which over the past few years have continued to be characterized by disputes regarding the nuclear program, economic sanctions and political influence in the Middle East region.
