U.S. Sanctions Cripple Financial Networks Sustaining the Iranian Regime

The United States is taking action today against eight digital asset service providers that help the Iranian regime evade sanctions and fund terrorism. The Department of the Treasury is designating these firms, which exchange Iranian rials and other currencies for digital assets so that the regime, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and other sanctioned actors can move money into and out of Iran.

Several of these businesses sent funds to digital asset accounts linked to the IRGC and other terrorist activity. Many also dealt with Iranian cryptocurrency exchanges that the United States has already sanctioned. Some changed their names and addresses to avoid detection, and all of them kept operating despite public reporting on the risks they posed.

As part of Operation Economic Outcast, the United States will continue to cut off revenue the Iranian regime uses to fund terrorism, weapons proliferation, and its proxies across the Middle East. Today's action deepens Iran's economic isolation and targets its growing use of digital assets to get around sanctions. It follows U.S. sanctions earlier this year on Iranian digital asset exchanges that moved money for the regime and the IRGC. Anyone, anywhere in the world, who helps Tehran evade sanctions risks being held accountable.

The United States coordinated this action closely with Canada, including Canada's financial intelligence unit, FINTRAC. It reflects our shared commitment to protecting the North American financial system from abuse. Several of the designated businesses also laundered proceeds from drug trafficking, which shows how the same illicit networks serve both Iran and criminal organizations that threaten the safety of our communities. We will keep working with Canada and other international partners to expose these networks, shut them down, and make sure no country becomes a refuge for people who finance terrorism and evade sanctions.

Today's designations are imposed pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13902, which targets the Iranian digital asset sector, among other key sectors of the Iranian economy. For more information, please see Treasury's press release.

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