US slaps new sanctions on individuals and firms that help Iran sell its oil

"The United States has issued a new wave of sanctions against Iran, targeting people and entities it says are involved in illicit fund transfers that benefit the country's military activities. The US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) confirmed on Tuesday that it had sanctioned more than a dozen Iranian individuals and companies based in Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates."

"Those targeted, the OFAC said, had helped to move funds for the benefit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Iranian Ministry of Defence. Some of the money came from the sale of Iranian oil, the US Treasury added. Iranian shadow banking' networks like these run by trusted illicit financial facilitators abuse the international financial system, and evade sanctions by laundering money through overseas front companies and cryptocurrency, it said."

"The US government alleges that Iranian nationals Alireza Derakhshan and Arash Estaki Alivand, who are both on the new sanctions list, facilitated the purchase of $100m worth of cryptocurrency for the Iranian government. As a result of the sanctions, they and the other people and entities being targeted lose their right to any assets held in the US. US companies and citizens are also forbidden from doing business with them."

The US Treasury's OFAC sanctioned more than a dozen Iranian individuals and companies based in Hong Kong and the UAE for facilitating illicit fund transfers that benefited the IRGC and the Iranian Ministry of Defence. Some of the funds were derived from Iranian oil sales. US officials described networks of illicit financial facilitators laundering money through overseas front companies and cryptocurrency. Two named Iranian nationals allegedly helped purchase $100m in cryptocurrency for the Iranian government. Sanctions freeze any assets in the US and bar US persons and companies from dealing with the designated parties. The action aligns with efforts to reduce Iran's oil exports.

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