US imposes new sanctions on Iran's financial networks in response to Tehran's attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. The sanctions announced by the US Treasury Department target a total of 13 individuals and entities, including Ali Ansari, identified as the chief financier of Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.
The Treasury Department stated that Ansari, an Iranian banker and businessman living in Dubai, had previously been sanctioned by the UK and provided financial support for the activities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has also added major Iran-based currency exchange houses and shell companies that transfer billions of dollars annually on behalf of sanctioned Iranian banks to its target list. The department noted that these companies employ a network of fictitious firms to conceal the government's illicit activities.
Clear message from US to Iran
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said, "The US is taking decisive steps to cut the financial lifelines that support Iran's ruling elite. By targeting these networks, we are directly disrupting the regime's access to foreign currency and its international financial activities."
Brett Erickson, Managing Director of security consultancy Obsidian Risk Advisors, said the new sanctions send a clear message to Tehran. "Washington is no longer trying to salvage the existing framework; it is preparing to completely replace it," Erickson said.
Ali Ansari's financial network
According to the Treasury Department, Ansari was the owner and manager of Bank Ayandeh, which had previously been subject to US sanctions and was shut down on the orders of the Iranian government in mid-October 2025. Using shell companies and bank accounts across multiple jurisdictions, Ansari amassed millions of dollars in assets under the holding company Smart Global Limited, established in Saint Kitts and Nevis in 2011. The holding invested in real estate and commercial properties in Europe, the Gulf, and other regions.
The department stressed that "while these financial interests are registered in Ansari's name, many ultimately belong to Mojtaba Khamenei and his family, as well as other Iranian elites in the regime and the IRGC." The statement added that despite his blatant corruption and the significant damage he caused to the Iranian economy, Ansari was protected from punishment by these individuals.
OFAC also sanctioned Iranian nationals linked to the aforementioned exchange houses, along with Hong Kong-based CDM Trading Limited and UAE-based Nabaa Al-Zaki raw materials trading company, which conducted financial transactions on behalf of these bureaus.
