Iran's Central Bank Rebuts US Crypto Sanctions Claims
Iran's Central Bank of Iran Governor Abdolnasser Hemmati is pushing back against Washington's expanding crypto sanctions campaign. He flatly denies that recently targeted exchanges and wallets have any ties to the Iranian state, contradicting US Treasury claims.
The US Treasury has spent 2026 methodically sanctioning Iranian crypto infrastructure, freezing nine figures worth of digital assets in the process. In June 2026, it sanctioned Nobitex, Iran's largest cryptocurrency exchange, accusing it of processing transactions on behalf of the Central Bank of Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Hemmati maintains that the exchanges targeted by the US have no operational connection to the Iranian government. However, this contradicts the Treasury's findings in Nobitex's case, where the accusation was specific: that the exchange processed transactions benefiting sanctioned state entities.
The Treasury has shown no signs of slowing down, with three rounds of sanctions in three months targeting exchanges, wallets, and the central bank itself. This suggests a sustained campaign with more designations likely to follow.