US sanctions 'shadow banking network' used by Iran's military
The sweeping new sanctions come days before Iran holds elections to replace its late President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash last month.
WASHINGTON — The US Treasury Department imposed dozens of sanctions Tuesday on what it described as a vast "shadow banking network" that Iran’s military has used to gain access to the international financial system.
According to a Treasury Department news release, the Iranian Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics and the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps use networks of Iranian exchange houses and dozens of foreign companies to disguise the revenue they generate from the sale of Iranian oil and petrochemicals.
Those funds are used for a range of illicit activities including the provision of weapons and funding to Yemen’s Houthi militant group and the transfer of armed drones to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine, the department said.
The nearly 50 designated individuals and entities, which are based in Iran, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, the Marshall Islands and Turkey, allegedly helped process the equivalent of billions of dollars since 2020.
“We have sanctioned hundreds of targets involved in Iran’s illicit oil and petrochemical-related activity since President Biden took office, and we will continue to pursue those who seek to finance Iran’s destabilizing terrorist activities,” Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo said in a statement.
The sanctions come days before Iran is due to hold presidential elections on June 28 to replace Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash last month. A record-low turnout is expected for the snap election, in which voters will choose between five hard-liners and one moderate candidate.
