US Treasury Secretary says Iran’s leaders are wiring of ‘tens of millions of dollars’ out of the country

On January 8 – 12 days into the protests – the Iranian regime shut down the internet, creating a near-total blackout. 

In the days since, reports have emerged of the mass killings of protesters – with one source telling CBS the death toll could be as high as 20,000 people. 

Iranian opposition outlet Iran International estimated that over 12,000 people were killed over the course of two days last week.

Speaking on Wednesday, Bessent said that the current situation was the culmination of Trump’s efforts to hold the Iranian Regime to account.

“We're quickly approaching the endgame of President Trump's plan that he put into effect almost immediately when he came into office,” he said.

“We've been applying a maximum pressure campaign on Iran's oil exports to cut off the sources of the regime's funding. And what we have seen in the past month is a total financial collapse of the regime.”

As the unrest continued into its third week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump was “leaning towards” a new round of strikes, though some US officials had expressed “concerns that US military strikes could fuel the regime’s propaganda that the US and Israel are secretly orchestrating the protests”.

Iran had also threatened that, should the US attack, American military bases in the region, as well as Israel, would be considered “legitimate targets” for retaliation.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told a conference of foreign ambassadors this week: “The Islamic Republic of Iran is not seeking war but is fully prepared for war.

"We are also ready for negotiations but these negotiations should be fair, with equal rights and based on mutual respect.”