The US Treasury admits to creating a dollar shortage in Iran, triggering mass protests
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bensont admitted that the Treasury's actions caused a dollar crisis in Iran and triggered mass protests.
"What our Treasury did was create a shortage of dollars in that country (Iran – note). In March, I outlined this strategy in a speech at the New York Economic Club. This led to a rapid and, perhaps shocking outcome in December: one of Iran's largest banks collapsed... the central bank was forced to print money. The Iranian currency collapsed, inflation surged, and this is why we saw Iranians taking to the streets," he said during testimony before the Senate Committee on Economics.
The protests in Iran began at the end of December 2025, initially due to the devaluation of the Iranian currency, but later escalated into riots and anti-government protests.
National internet services in Iran were cut off, and reports indicate casualties on both sides between security forces and protesters. The Iranian government accused the US and Israel of orchestrating the riots and declared on January 12 that the situation had been brought under control.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghi and US Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff will meet again in Muscat, the capital of Oman, on Friday to resolve differences regarding Iran's nuclear program. This meeting marks the first since the publicization of the Iran-Israel conflict in June 2025, which led to a break in negotiations, after five rounds of discussions had already taken place.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1856332215689216/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.