Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was recently forced to relocate to a military base over concerns for his safety.
The move comes as Bessent has spent the last several months executing a massive economic campaign against Iran aimed at severing all of Tehran’s remaining financial ties around the world.
A source familiar with the situation told NBC News “after The Wall Street Journal published an article featuring an online photo that allowed the location of the Secretary’s Georgetown home to be geo-located, security concerns began to increase which have now forced the Secretary to relocate to a military base for his safety. The news media has an obligation to act responsibly amid growing threats against public officials.”
Recent U.S. intelligence showed that Iran has stepped up efforts to target American personnel in the Middle East and elsewhere, which contributed to the State Department last month reducing staffing at four U.S. embassies in the region.
“The Secretary will not be deterred by the Iranian regime’s threats and remains committed to executing Operation Economic Outcast and maintaining the blockade, which together are collapsing Iran’s economy,” the source told NBC News.
President Donald Trump said this week that the more than 8-month-old Iran war “militarily is effectively over,” but his administration has kept up the financial warfare in a bid to get Iran to capitulate to U.S. demands over Tehran’s nuclear program.
The Treasury Department in August pledged an “economic D-Day” against Tehran, and it has become a massive sanctions and influence campaign.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Operation Economic Outcast, a set of secondary sanctions against groups and individuals that do business with Iran.
U.S. officials have spent the past few months traveling from Europe to the Middle East and meeting behind closed doors on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly to make the case to some of Tehran’s closest and most vital trading partners: Sever those financial ties or face retaliation from the United States.
And it appears some have followed suit. The United Arab Emirates and Turkey — key trading partners and regional neighbors — halted Iran’s top commercial bank from issuing transactions in their countries, while some of the country’s top airlines were cut off from critical regional routes from Istanbul to Muscat, Oman.
Other top Trump administration officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, also live on military bases.
