US treasury secretary Scott Bessent has moved out of his Washington-area home and relocated to a military base following threats to his life allegedly linked to Iran, according to a report by The New York Times. The move came after US officials concluded that Iranian plots targeting current and former American officials had reached a more advanced stage in recent weeks, partly based on intelligence about threats against Bessent, the newspaper reported, citing three people familiar with the matter. The precise nature and severity of the threats remain unclear. However, US officials have assessed that Iran's ability to carry out large-scale attacks in the United States and other overseas territories is limited, even as they take specific threats against individuals seriously. A Treasury Department spokesperson said Bessent “will not be deterred by the Iranian regime’s threats”, adding that he remained committed to carrying out the administration's campaign to put pressure on Iran.
Bessent has led Washington's economic pressure campaign against Tehran since August, seeking to isolate Iran financially through tougher sanctions and restrictions on trade routes. The campaign aims to cut off funding to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iran's most powerful military force, which also controls a substantial part of the country's economy, according to The New York Times. The Treasury Department has imposed financial restrictions targeting individuals, companies, maritime networks and participants in Iran's oil trade as part of the broader effort to restrict Tehran's revenue and its ability to finance military operations. The campaign has been pursued alongside the US-Israeli military offensive against Iran, which began on February 28. Strikes by the US and Israel on Iran, along with Israeli attacks in Lebanon, have killed thousands and displaced millions across the region. The attacks have also killed several senior Iranian officials, including former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Trump administration hopes the economic pressure will help avoid a resumption of major military operations in the conflict, which President Donald Trump has repeatedly promised to bring to an end. Bessent and other US officials have said the campaign is hurting Iran's economy, weakening its currency and worsening living standards. However, US intelligence indicates that Iran's hard-line leadership remains determined to retain power despite the economic pressure, according to two officials cited in the report.
Bessent is the latest senior Trump administration official to move from a private residence in the Washington area to a military base or other protected accommodation following security concerns. At least half a dozen officials made similar moves last year, including Stephen Miller, now the White House chief of staff, and Pam Bondi, who was then attorney general. The administration has not disclosed the full extent of the threats against senior officials, and not all of them have been linked to Iran. In Bondi's case, the threats were said to have increased partly after US forces captured former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas and brought him to New York to face federal criminal charges. Last month, the US government placed employees across the Middle East on heightened alert and reduced staffing at some embassies and consulates after receiving intelligence that Iran was at an advanced stage of planning attacks against Americans. The US military also abruptly moved bombers from a base in the United Kingdom following a suspected terrorist plot against the facility.
Iran has targeted Trump since January 2020, when he ordered a drone strike that killed Qassim Suleimani, the commander of the IRGC's Quds Force. In 2024, US federal prosecutors charged Farhad Shakeri, whom they described as an IRGC operative, with plotting to assassinate Trump in retaliation for Suleimani's killing. Several US national security officials involved in the lead-up to the 2020 strike also faced Iranian threats. The Biden administration retained security details for some of them, but Trump revoked protections for several former advisers shortly after returning to office, including some who continued to consider themselves his allie. Iran has previously denied plotting attacks against US officials or individuals on American soil.
