U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has been moved from his Washington, D.C., home to a military base after Iran-linked threats to his life, according to U.S. media reports relayed by the BBC.
CBS, the BBC's U.S. partner, said the relocation came after a photo of Bessent's home was published in the Wall Street Journal. "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," a source told CBS. Those concerns, the source said, prompted authorities to move Bessent to a military base in the area. Georgetown is an affluent part of Washington that is home to a number of government officials. The exact nature of the threats remained unclear in the BBC account, and the BBC said it had contacted the White House for comment.
A Treasury Department spokesperson said only that Bessent "will not be deterred" by threats and "remains committed" to the U.S. effort to pressure Iran's economy. Bessent has been at the forefront of efforts to isolate Iran economically through sanctions and a wider economic blockade, the BBC reported.
A wider warning, and other officials already on bases
In September, Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton warned that Iran has "substantially increased" efforts to target Americans, including U.S. officials. The New York Times has reported that the effort includes current and former officials, with one source telling the newspaper it has "reached a more advanced stage." The BBC said other officials reportedly on Iran's list of potential targets include former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former national security adviser John Bolton and Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Milley's and Bolton's security teams were taken away by the Trump administration shortly after Trump returned to office last year, the BBC reported.
Bessent is one of several administration officials who live on military bases. The BBC said White House chief of staff Stephen Miller was moved to a base in late 2025, before the conflict with Iran began, and that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio both live on military bases, as did former Attorney General Pam Bondi and former intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard.
The U.S. and Israel launched an air campaign against Iran in February, the BBC said, killing its leader and prompting Tehran to retaliate with strikes on U.S. allies and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which around a fifth of the world's oil and gas usually travels. In June, the U.S. and Iran reached a preliminary agreement to end the war and reopen the strait, but it collapsed within weeks after Iranian attacks on shipping resumed and the United States reinstated a blockade targeting Iranian ports. Those are the BBC's descriptions of a conflict still underway; this article is not independently confirming battlefield claims.