US sanctions say Iran’s oil for crypto web pushed $100M through 2023 to 2025
The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned two Iranian nationals accused of orchestrating crypto transactions to assist Tehran promote oil in defiance of worldwide restrictions.
On Sept. 16, OFAC named Alireza Derakhshan and Arash Estaki Alivand as central figures in a community that moved greater than $100 million price of crypto between 2023 and 2025.
According to the company, the pair relied on a number of entrance firms throughout jurisdictions to obscure the path of funds utilized in Iran’s oil-for-crypto commerce.
The designations had been made beneath Executive Order 13224, a authorized framework that targets people who materially help or finance terrorism-related entities.
OFAC acknowledged that each males offered monetary and technological assist to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps–Qods Force (IRGC-QF), considered one of Iran’s most sanctioned army branches.
Alivand, described as each an oil dealer and monetary facilitator, labored intently with the Syria-based Al-Qatirji Company, a long-time accomplice of the IRGC-QF in distributing Iranian oil.
In 2023, he organized a fee from a Derakhshan-run entrance firm to Al-Qatirji, linking crypto-based transactions instantly to sanctioned oil gross sales.
Alivand additionally transacted multimillions of {dollars} with Tawfiq Muhammad Sa’id Al-Law, a Hezbollah-linked cash changer who offered entry to digital wallets for funds tied to IRGC-QF operations.
Derakhshan’s function was equally important. He established and operated firms in Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates to course of transactions for Iranian entities already beneath sanction.
These buildings allowed Tehran to sidestep restrictions whereas holding monetary flows energetic in international markets.
John Ok. Hurley, the Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, stated:
“Iranian entities depend on shadow banking networks to evade sanctions and transfer thousands and thousands through the worldwide monetary system.”
As a results of the designations, each males are actually barred from participating with US individuals or establishments. Anyone discovered facilitating their transactions dangers secondary sanctions.
The transfer highlights how sanctioned states more and more flip to crypto to skirt traditional financial barriers. Iran’s technique mirrors techniques utilized by Russia because the invasion of Ukraine, the place digital property have grow to be a part of the toolkit for bypassing Western penalties.
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