The United States Treasury has approved two cryptocurrency exchanges linked to Iran’s financial system, marking the first time Washington has directly targeted a digital asset platform as part of its Iran sanctions program.
In a statement on Friday, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said the sanctions were part of a broader crackdown on Iranian officials and networks accused of violently suppressing people at home by using alternative financial channels to circumvent international sanctions.
Among those sanctioned was Iran’s interior minister, Eskander Momini Kalagari, who oversees the country’s law enforcement forces. “Treasury will target Iranian networks and corrupt elites that enrich themselves at the expense of the Iranian people,” Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said.
OAFAC had earlier also named Babak Morteza Zanjani, a prominent Iranian businessman, for embezzling billions of dollars in oil revenues from the National Oil Company of Iran. Zanjani was released from prison and later used by the Iranian state to finance projects linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and help launder funds, according to the Treasury.
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US sanctions hit UK crypto exchange on Iran links
The sanctions break new ground by extending to UK-registered crypto exchanges, ZCX Exchange Ltd and ZX Exchange Ltd, which US officials say are linked to Zanjani and have processed a large volume of transactions linked to IRGC-linked entities. ZCX has handled just over $94 billion in transactions since its registration in 2022, OAFAC said.
“This marks OFAC’s first designation of a digital asset exchange to operate in the financial sector of the Iranian economy,” the Treasury said.
Besant accused Tehran of diverting oil revenues to weapons programs and militant proxies instead of supporting its population. He said the US would continue to target networks that exploit digital assets to circumvent sanctions and finance illegal activity.
Beyond the crypto-related post, the OAC also sanctioned senior IRGC commanders and security officials in several provinces, citing evidence of direct fire attacks on protesters, forced burials without funerals and aimed at crushing dissent.
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Iran’s central bank used $500 million in USDT to support the rial
Last week, blockchain analytics firm Baizvi said that Iran’s central bank had collected more than $500 million of TEACHER’s USDT (USDT) during a period of severe economic stress, possibly using stablecoins to settle international trade in its liquidated rial.
The rally began after the currency lost nearly half its value in eight months, suggesting the bank used USDT to buy riyals on local exchange Nobitex, mirroring the traditional functions of the central bank market through crypto.
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