WASHINGTON: The United States government has announced a sweeping new round of sanctions against Iran, targeting the regime’s global shadow banking apparatus, illicit digital currency exchanges, and international financial networks.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated two major cryptocurrency platforms—Shelbit Exchange and Aban Tether—accused of helping Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launder billions of dollars and maintain covert access to the international financial system. Sanctions were also levied against key financial facilitators and exchange house networks, including Siavash Kayvanpour, who operated a multi-nation corporate network across multiple jurisdictions to bypass standard financial regulations.
According to U.S. officials, digital currency addresses tied to the IRGC transferred millions of dollars through these designated platforms. The U.S. State Department’s Rewards for Justice program is offering up to $15 million for information leading to the disruption of IRGC financial mechanisms. Parallel to executive actions, the U.S. Senate passed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, expanding authority for stricter economic pressure and secondary tariffs on sectors tied to Iranian energy, shipping, and banking.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the Iranian regime’s reliance on digital assets and shadow banking networks is further evidence that economic pressure is working, emphasizing that the Treasury will hunt down and dismantle the illicit financial networks keeping the regime afloat.
As an immediate impact, all property and interests belonging to the designated individuals and entities within U.S. jurisdiction are blocked. Any entity owned 50 percent or more by designated parties is automatically subject to blocking restrictions, and foreign financial institutions facilitating significant transactions with these targeted entities risk losing access to the U.S. banking system.
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