US imposes sanctions on three Iranian currency – Business News
The US Treasury Department imposed sweeping sanctions Friday on three main Iranian currency exchange homes and more than a dozen entrance corporations, The Post has discovered, accusing them of laundering billions of {dollars} in overseas currency to bankroll Tehran’s army and proxy community.
This crackdown, a cornerstone of the Trump administration’s “Economic Fury” maximum-pressure marketing campaign, targets the shadow banking systems that help Iran convert illicit oil income.
Because these revenues are largely paid in Chinese yuan, these networks are very important for changing funds into US {dollars}, euros, and different usable currencies for the regime.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at a Senate committee listening to on April 22. Getty Images
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the designations strike immediately on the financial arteries preserving Iran’s conflict machine alive.
“Iran is the head of the snake for global terrorism, and under President Trump’s leadership, Treasury is moving aggressively, through Economic Fury, to sever the Iranian military’s financial lifelines,” Bessent mentioned in a assertion. “We will relentlessly target the regime’s ability to generate, move, and repatriate funds.”
The focused exchange homes — Opal Exchange, Radin Exchange, and Arz Iran Exchange (also referred to as Tahayyori Guarantee Society) — together with their house owners, allegedly orchestrate refined networks of entrance corporations.
These networks deal with tens of billions of {dollars} in annual commerce for Iran’s sanctioned entities, together with its central bank and the National Iranian Oil Co.
Treasury issued the designations below an govt order geared toward Iran’s financial sector.
Key operators and house owners — Iranian nationals Pedram Pirouzan, Hossein Mohammad Rezaei, Masoud Mohammad Rezaei, Nasser Ghasemi Rad, and Ehsan Tahayyori — have been additionally personally hit with Friday’s blocking sanctions.
To operate seamlessly, these exchanges rely on shell corporations registered to their house owners, who often listing citizenship from Dominica or St. Kitts and Nevis.
This tactic masks their Iranian ties, permitting them to open overseas bank accounts and transfer money for Iranian importers, exporters, and military-linked entities, Treasury officers famous.
The Treasury’s IRS building in Washington, DC. Christopher Sadowski
Friday’s actions sweep up 15 particular entrance corporations scattered throughout a number of jurisdictions.
Collectively, these illicit networks have processed lots of of tens of millions of {dollars} in cross-border transactions, the division mentioned.
Friday’s transfer compounds more than 1,000 Iran-related designations issued since a February 2025 national security diktat signed by President Trump.
It immediately follows earlier actions focusing on Iranian “rahbar” corporations tied to particular banks and digital asset platforms used to dodge sanctions.
Under these penalties, any property the designated people or corporations maintain within the United States or below US jurisdiction are instantly frozen, and Americans are barred from doing business with them.
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Furthermore, overseas events risk secondary sanctions for knowingly facilitating the blocked entities’ actions.
Treasury officers emphasised that the last word objective just isn’t mere punishment however behavioral change — forcing Tehran to pay a considerably larger price for its destabilizing regional actions. Violations can set off extreme civil or legal penalties.
Officials mentioned whistleblowers offering actionable intelligence could qualify for profitable awards via FinCEN’s program.
These new designations arrive as Iran continues promoting oil on the worldwide market regardless of years of stringent US sanctions. Tehran makes use of an elaborate web of intermediaries to keep money flowing to its army, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and proxy militias throughout the Middle East.
By hanging the currency exchanges appearing because the regime’s essential financial middlemen, Treasury goals to make it exponentially tougher and more costly for Tehran to fund its ambitions.
