US hits Iran’s ‘shadow banking’ network in Hong Kong, UAE
Two Iranian financiers and various Hong Kong and United Arab Emirates persons have been sanctioned by the US this week for facilitating $100 million worth of crypto to fund Iran’s oil sales.
The US Treasury imposed the sanctions one day after Israel identified $1.5 billion worth of USDT linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, a branch of its military forces and designated terrorist group.
Alireza Derakhshan and Arash Estaki Alivand were sanctioned for purchasing the multi-million dollar crypto sum, which served as payment for the oil sale, and using a “shadow banking” network of Hong Kong and United Arab Emirates firms to bypass sanctions and provide Iran with the funds.
Indeed, the Treasury claims the oil sale will, “support regional terrorist proxy groups,” and help Iran “develop advanced weapons systems, including ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which threaten the security of US forces and those of our allies.”
Read more: Binance deliberately skirted US sanctions to serve Iran users, says Reuters
This is the second sanction of its kind using Donald Trump’s executive order, known as the National Security Presidential Memorandum 2, which sought “a campaign of maximum pressure on Iran.”
Iran has been the subject of multiple sanctions and has been pushed into crypto in response. Last month, the UK, France, and Germany reimposed UN sanctions in order to encourage access to its nuclear sites.
Crypto analytics firm Elliptic has previously linked the Nobitex crypto exchange to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and described it as part of its “cross-border sanctions evasion apparatus.”
The exchange was hacked by pro-Israeli hackers in June and $90 million was stolen.
The US also froze $584,000 worth of USDT last Friday in connection with Iran’s drone program, and has previously sanctioned crypto addresses linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards that received $332 million of crypto.
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