‘Rats Fleeing the Ship’: Iran’s Ruling Elites ‘Frantically Wiring’ Millions Abroad, Bessent Says, as New Sanctions Hit

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced sweeping new sanctions Thursday on senior Iranian officials and regime-linked financial networks, saying Tehran’s ruling elite are “rats fleeing the ship” as they frantically wire tens of millions of dollars out of the country amid mounting unrest.

At the direction of President Donald Trump, Bessent said the Treasury Department is sanctioning key Iranian leaders involved in the brutal crackdown on protesters, while moving to choke off the regime’s sanctions-evasion pipelines used to launder proceeds from Iranian petroleum and petrochemical sales.

In a video released Thursday on X alongside the sanctions announcement, Bessent said his message was directed to Iran’s leadership “on behalf of the people of Iran, who cannot speak for themselves,” before laying out how the administration