The U.S. Treasury Department announced that it has sanctioned a network of Iranian financial intermediaries, including four individuals and 12 companies in Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, for their role in transferring Iran’s oil revenues to benefit the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the regime’s Ministry of Defense.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Treasury stated on Tuesday, September 16, that these individuals and entities used front companies and cryptocurrencies to move part of the revenues from Iran’s oil sales.
According to the statement, the funds were directed to the IRGC’s Quds Force and Iran’s Ministry of Defense.
The Treasury Department added that the IRGC and the Ministry of Defense used these funds to support Iran-backed militias in the region and to develop advanced weapons, including ballistic missiles and drones.
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Various reports have previously highlighted the use of cryptocurrencies by Iranian regime-linked entities to bypass international sanctions.
On September 15, Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing published a list of 187 cryptocurrency addresses linked to the IRGC.
According to Elliptic, a UK-based blockchain analytics company, the listed addresses had collectively received $1.5 billion in Tether, a US dollar stablecoin.
Sanctioned Individuals and Companies
On September 16, John Hurley, the U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, referring to the latest sanctions against Tehran, said: “Iranian entities rely on shadow banking networks to evade sanctions and move millions of dollars through the international financial system.”
He stressed that Donald Trump’s administration will continue its efforts to “cut off the regime’s vital financial flows.”
According to the Treasury Department, two Iranian nationals, Alireza Derakhshan and Arash Estaki Alivand, played key roles in this financial network.
Between 2023 and 2025, they transferred more than $100 million in cryptocurrency from the sale of Iranian oil shipments.
Alivand also acted as a financial broker with the Syrian company Al-Qatirji, identified as a main partner of the IRGC’s Quds Force in selling Iranian oil.
The Treasury Department further noted that Ramin Jalalian, an Iranian money exchanger previously sanctioned for collaborating with Iran’s Ministry of Defense, remains active in this network.
He manages several companies registered in the United Arab Emirates.
Since returning to the White House, Donald Trump has once again put the “maximum pressure” policy against the Iranian regime on the agenda.
During the 12-day war in June, U.S. fighter jets targeted Iranian regime nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.
Even after the ceasefire in this war, the Trump administration has not reduced its pressure on the Iranian regime and continues imposing sanctions on various networks involved in evading international restrictions.
Earlier, on September 11, the U.S. in its largest sanctions package against Yemen’s Houthis, targeted several financial and arms-smuggling networks backed by Tehran.
Part of these sanctions targeted the Houthis’ vast oil smuggling network, which through importing Iranian petroleum products generated billions of dollars in revenue for the group.
