U.S. targets Iran's banking system, companies with new sanctions
This is the eighth round of Iran-related sanctions announced by the Trump administration this year.
The new sanctions target Iran's banking system and companies across multiple countries that the Treasury Department says launder hundreds of millions of dollars.
"Every facilitator that keeps the regime afloat is putting a target on its own back," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. "Treasury will continue to expose these networks and cut them off from the U.S. financial system."
The department designated Shahr Bank and two Dubai-based exchange houses, Titan Exchange and Alps International, that it says helped the bank retrieve oil revenue for major Iranian exporters, including the National Iranian Oil Company and Naftiran Intertrade Co.
Titan Exchange allegedly held tens of millions of dollars on Shahr Bank's behalf, and the Treasury Department says the exchange is linked to a financier who was previously sanctioned for aiding a separate shipping and sanctions-evasion network.
Several Iranian nationals were also designated, including Shahr Bank employee Saeed Ghasempour, who reportedly coordinated currency conversions with Russia's VTB Bank, and staff members of Iran-based Farab Soroush Afagh Qeshm who managed invoices and payments for the scheme. A cluster of shell companies in Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai — used to funnel payments through intermediary accounts — was also designated.