US hits Iran Revolutionary Guard finance network with sanctions

The US Treasury takes fresh aim Tuesday at the international network funneling dollars and euros to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), naming 25 individuals and entities for financial sanctions.

The targets are front companies of the IRGC-controlled Ansar Bank and Ansar Exchange in Iran, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, that have collectively been able to move more than $1 billion for the Tehran regime, the Treasury says.

The funds have benefited both IRGC and the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, according to a Treasury announcement.

The sanctions seek to lock those named out of the global financial system by banning US citizens and US businesses — including international banks with a US presence — from doing business with them.

“Any foreign financial institution that knowingly facilitates a significant transactions for any of the individuals or entities designated today could be subject to US sanctions,” the Treasury warns.

The 25 named are mostly relatively small trading and money exchange firms, dubbed by the Treasury “front companies,” and their owners and managers who worked with Ansar Bank and Ansar Exchange.

In addition key figures in Ansar Bank and Ansar Exchange are designated for sanctions.

— AFP