US Treasury Secretary Confirms: Islamic Republic Leaders Are Transferring Tens of Millions of Dollars Abroad

Scott Basset, the US Treasury Secretary, says that the US is monitoring the transfer of money and assets by Islamic Republic officials out of Iran following the expansion of protests and the potential collapse of the government. This is the first time a high-ranking US official has reported on the efforts of Islamic Republic officials to transfer their assets from Iran. In part of his Wednesday night interview with the Newsmax website, Mr. Basset said: 'At the Treasury Department, which is responsible for enforcing sanctions, we clearly see that the rats are leaving the ship; because we are witnessing the transfer of millions and tens of millions of dollars out of the country by leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran.' He added: 'They are fleeing the ship, and we see that this money is entering banks and financial institutions around the world. What we are doing at the Treasury Department is tracking the money. Whether this money is transferred through the banking system or through digital assets, we will track them, and the leaders of the Islamic Republic will not be able to keep this money for themselves.' Hours earlier, Channel 14 in Israel reported that Islamic Republic leaders had transferred $1.5 billion to accounts in Dubai over the past two days. This media outlet, citing experts familiar with the economic activities of the Revolutionary Guards, claimed that Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a potential successor, is one of the individuals involved in these transfers, having moved approximately $328 million to the same destination. In recent days, amid the expansion of protests, there have been whispers of a potential escape of the leader and senior officials of the Islamic Republic to Moscow. Even Donald Trump, the President of the United States, in an interview with Fox News, responded to a question about whether Ali Khamenei intends to flee to Russia by saying: 'He intends to go [somewhere] from Iran.' A year ago, as Ahmad al-Shar' forces advanced in Syria, Bashar al-Assad, the dictator of that country, fled to Moscow.