US tightens sanctions on Iran's financial network

Shafaq News- Washington

The US State Department imposed new sanctions on Thursday targeting a network of currency exchange houses, shell companies, banks, and financial facilitators accused of helping Iran move hundreds of millions of dollars through the international financial system.

Through these networks, Tehran accessed oil revenue and evaded sanctions designed to curb its destabilizing activities, laundering funds using front companies, the department said in a statement.

The sanctions form part of the Trump administration's maximum pressure campaign to cut off financial resources that Washington says Iran uses to threaten regional stability, support terrorism, and advance its military capabilities. The department warned that anyone assisting Tehran in evading sanctions would face "serious consequences."

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pledged last week to pursue Iranian funds worldwide under the maximum pressure policy. The Treasury had earlier sanctioned a network linked to Iranian financier Babak Zanjani, accusing it of laundering revenue, concealing ownership, and moving funds through Iran and abroad, including transactions tied to wallets linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).