The US Treasury sanctioned Iran’s BitBank on 17 September under an executive order targeting sectors of the Iranian economy. Treasury described the exchange as part of digital-asset infrastructure used to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. It also said the OFAC-designated Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority had used BitBank since June to transfer payments it received to the Iranian regime.
Treasury said BitBank was controlled by sanctioned Iranian financier Babak Zanjani. Reuters independently reported the designation and the government’s allegations. The action also covered BitBank’s developer, Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company, and three Zanjani associates: Hossein Ali Zaker Hossein, Mohammad Mahdi Zaker Hossein and Seyed Adel Heidari. The designation restricts dealings subject to US jurisdiction and can affect counterparties handling covered property.
DIGITAL-ASSET FLOWS DREW SCRUTINY
The designation is part of Operation Economic Outcast, the Trump administration’s economic campaign against Iran announced by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on 24 August.
Treasury said Zanjani was sentenced to death in Iran in 2016 for embezzling from the National Iranian Oil Company and that the sentence was commuted in 2024. OFAC had designated multiple Zanjani-linked digital-asset entities and facilitators on 30 January and 24 July 2026.
SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS
Treasury said all property and interests in property of the designated persons in the United States or in the possession or control of US persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. It added that financial institutions and other persons may risk exposure to sanctions for engaging in certain transactions involving designated persons, and emphasised secondary sanctions exposure for those who continue doing business with the Iranian regime.
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