US imposes sanctions on Iranian crypto exchange BitBank — Jerusalem Post
The United States has imposed sanctions on the Iranian cryptocurrency exchange BitBank, which is controlled by sanctioned Iranian financier Babak Zanjani. The US Treasury Department said the platform was used to process payments related to the safe passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.
US Treasury accusations
As the Jerusalem Post reports, the US agency claims that BitBank transferred hundreds of millions of dollars to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The US Treasury called the exchange a key component of Iran’s sanctions-evasion infrastructure using digital assets.
According to the agency, BitBank was also used to transfer funds paid to Iran’s newly created Hormuz Safe Maritime Services Administration. The sanctions became part of Operation Economic Outcast, aimed at economically isolating Iran and disrupting its international financial, commercial, and logistics networks.
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Other sanctions targets
Washington also added Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company, which developed software for BitBank, to the sanctions list. Restrictions were also imposed on three close associates of Zanjani — Hossein Ali Zaker Hossein, Mohammad Mahdi Zaker Hossein, and Seyed Adel Heydari.
The US Treasury had previously imposed sanctions on Zanjani and two of his largest digital asset projects — Zedcex Exchange Limited and Zedxion Exchange Limited. In January, the agency accused them of laundering money for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. In July, the United States imposed sanctions on nine other companies linked to Zanjani, including the Iranian conglomerate Dot One, firms in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, as well as their executives.
The US Treasury said Zanjani’s enterprises operated simultaneously as public commercial entities and covert financial platforms which, in the agency’s assessment, facilitated sanctions evasion and support for entities linked to the Iranian state.
