The Trump administration struck at the heart of the Iranian regime's illicit financial network on Tuesday, sanctioning two Iranian financiers and over a dozen individuals and front companies in Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, according to The Associated Press.
This decisive action targets a sophisticated "shadow banking" operation that allegedly laundered over $100 million in cryptocurrency from the sale of Iranian oil, funneling it directly to Iran’s military and government.
According to the US Treasury, the operation was spearheaded by Iranian nationals Alireza Derakhshan and Arash Estaki Alivand. The pair masterminded the purchase of massive amounts of cryptocurrency, which they then transferred through a web of international front companies to evade international sanctions.
This move underscores the growing threat of sanctioned regimes, particularly Iran, using digital currencies to finance their malign activities. The cryptocurrency tracking firm Chainalysis revealed that in 2024, sanctioned entities, including Iran, received a staggering $15.8 billion in cryptocurrency, making up a significant 39% of all illicit crypto transactions.
Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K. Hurley declared in a statement, “The US will continue to disrupt these key financial streams that fund Iran’s weapons programs and malign activities in the Middle East and beyond.”
The sanctions deny the targeted individuals and firms access to US-held assets and cutting them off from business with US citizens and companies.
The US move follows the activation of the "snapback mechanism" by France, Britain, and Germany, which automatically reimposes all United Nations sanctions on Iran due to its persistent violations of the 2015 nuclear deal.
The attempts to negotiate a new nuclear deal between the US and Iran faltered earlier this year, and talks have not resumed since the recent 12-day Israeli and US bombardment of Iran’s nuclear and military sites. Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani said recently that Tehran was open to renewed talks with the US but would not accept restrictions on its missile program.