The United States has frozen USD 344 million in cryptocurrency assets tied to Iran, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday, marking a new financial-pressure dimension to Washington’s campaign against Tehran alongside the ongoing Hormuz naval blockade.
Bessent said the Treasury Department “will continue to systematically degrade Tehran’s ability to generate, move, and repatriate funds”, announcing the action on X. He said sanctions had been imposed on “multiple wallets tied to Iran”, resulting in the freeze.
The disclosure comes as US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner travel to Pakistan on Saturday for a new round of talks with Iran on ending the conflict, with Vice President JD Vance reported on standby in case the negotiations require senior intervention.
Bessent ruled out renewal of the one-time waiver that allowed Iranian oil already at sea to clear, telling The Associated Press that “we have the blockade, and there’s no oil coming out”. He said Iran would have to start shutting in production within “two, three days”, warning the closures would cause lasting damage to its wells.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington is targeting both traditional sanctions-evasion channels such as front companies and newer routes through digital assets, and that the Treasury is in active dialogue with financial institutions, including digital-asset exchanges.
The war began when US-Israeli strikes targeted Iran on February 28, killing senior figures including supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
Source: Ada Derana.
