00:00And now we go to the United States, where Treasury Secretary Scott Besant admitted that Washington helped spark recent protests in Iran by creating a U.S. dollar shortage leading to runway inflation.
00:11While testifying before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, Besant described the move as part of U.S. President Donald Trump's maximum pressure campaign on Iran that was launched after his return to the White House in January 2025.
00:26Amid the shortage, Iran's Ayanda Bank collapsed in October, leading to the fall of the Iranian real and helping spark protests over the economic situation two months later.
00:39On January, the Treasury Secretary had stated in an interview that U.S. sanctions deliberately devalued Iran's currency.
00:46As economic protests in the Persian nation have subsided, Tehran has repeatedly accused Washington of inflaming tensions and interfering in internal affairs.
00:57Do a Treasury and what we have do is have done is created a dollar shortage in the country.
01:09At a speech at the Economic Club of New York in March, I outlined the strategy.
01:14It came to a swift and I would say grand culmination in December when one of the largest banks in Iran went under.
01:25There was a run on the bank. The central bank had to print money.
01:28The Iranian currency went into free fall. Inflation exploded.
01:32And hence, we have seen the Iranian people out on the street.
01:35We will continue monitoring all the partners, all the Iranian partners.
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