US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he was not afraid of death threats coming from Iran after recently relocating from his residence in Washington, D.C., to a US military base.
“Why should I be afraid when our military personnel in the Persian Gulf and President (Donald) Trump are constantly receiving death threats?” Bessent said in an interview with CNBC.
Iran has denied accusations that it is plotting attacks against officials and citizens on US soil.
However, Bessent said Iran was behaving “like a dangerous, cornered animal”, explaining that he had followed Secret Service instructions and moved from his home to a military base.
Bessent said he was partly forced to relocate after The Wall Street Journal published an aerial photograph of his home in Georgetown in January 2025.
“Very irresponsible and dangerous, and things like this need to stop,” he said.
A senior intelligence official in the Trump administration warned in a memorandum seen by Reuters late last month that Iranian plots targeting US personnel and American citizens had reached an advanced stage.
Since August, Bessent has led the US sanctions and economic pressure campaign against Iran, known as Operation Economic Outcast, in an effort to push Tehran to end attacks on commercial vessels and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The vital waterway has remained largely closed since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.
The economic pressure campaign, which coincides with a US naval blockade of Iranian ports, has included sanctions against Middle Eastern bank subsidiaries and other financial services firms facilitating transactions with Iran.
