The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on the Iranian cryptocurrency exchange BitBank. The agency states that the platform, controlled by financier Babak Zanjani, facilitated the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) between June and July.
According to the Treasury, the Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority utilized BitBank to process Bitcoin payments collected from shipping companies for transit through the Strait of Hormuz. This activity was part of a broader scheme to route funds to the Iranian regime, which the U.S. designated in July.
The sanctions also target the Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company, which developed the software for BitBank, and three executives from its parent firm, Dot One Value Creation Group: Hossein Ali Zaker Hossein, Mohammad Mahdi Zaker Hossein, and Seyed Adel Heidari. These actions were taken under Executive Order 13902.
All identified assets belonging to these individuals and entities within U.S. jurisdiction are now blocked. Furthermore, non-U.S. companies that engage in transactions with the sanctioned parties face the risk of secondary sanctions as part of the ongoing Operation Economic Outcast, an initiative aimed at disrupting Iran's economic infrastructure.
