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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has been relocated from his home in Washington, D.C. to a military base amid Iranian assassination threats this week, a senior administration official confirmed to Fox News.
Tehran has ramped up its efforts to target senior U.S. officials overseas, with White House chief of staff Stephen Miller and Secretary of State Marco Rubio also relocating to military or protected housing in recent weeks.
The senior official told Fox that threats against Bessent had reached “more than an advanced stage.” The official declined to say when exactly Bessent was relocated.
Bessent has played a central role in the economic battle against Iran, launching “Operation Economic Outcast” this summer in an effort to isolate Iran’s economy from the rest of the world.
COULD IRAN’S REGIME COLLAPSE? EXPERTS ASSESS BESSENT’S BID TO SEVER FINANCIAL LIFELINES
Scott Bessent, U.S. Treasury Secretary, speaks to reporters outside the White House in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Bessent said the wave of sanctions would bring about the “asphyxiation” of Iran’s economy.
The Treasury Department confirmed Bessent’s departure in a statement to Fox News on Tuesday, adding that the secretary refuses to “be deterred by the Iranian regime’s threats.”
The New York Times first reported Bessent’s relocation, citing three anonymous sources.
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The move comes as President Donald Trump continues to seek to end the war via diplomatic means, leaning away from a return to full scale war.
Marco Rubio, US secretary of State, from left, US President Donald Trump, and Pete Hegseth, US secretary of defense, during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, March 26, 2026. Trump threatened Iran with intensified military action after Tehran rejected Washington’s push for a peace deal, with the two sides far apart in efforts to end the near month-long war. (Will Oliver/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Rubio himself downplayed the possibility of re-escalating the conflict on Tuesday.
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“We don’t need to conduct military strikes if we’re achieving the same objective through economic means and economic pressure,” Rubio told reporters.
He rejected the suggestion that the U.S. and Iran were at a stalemate, arguing that sanctions, the naval blockade and other measures were steadily weakening Tehran.
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White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
“They’re bleeding. They’re bleeding economically,” Rubio said. “It is an increased pressure on Iran that continues to grow every day.”
The push comes a week after an election in which the war proved a political liability for Republicans.
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The Iran war was a crucial factor in the House vote for 34% of voters, according to the Fox News Voter Poll, while about six in 10 said the U.S. had made the wrong decision to take military action against Iran.
Fox News’ Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.