US Hits Iran-Linked Crypto Exchanges with Sanctions Amid Military Conflict
The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on two Iranian-linked digital asset exchanges, Shelbit and Aban Tether. The agency claims that these exchanges facilitate illicit cryptocurrency activity and sanctions evasion, allowing Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to support its operations.
The Treasury Department alleges that IRGC-controlled wallets sent over $1 million in crypto to addresses tied to Shelbit, while another wallet linked to Siavash Kayvanpour, an Iranian national, sent $2 million in digital assets to Nobitex, a sanctioned exchange added to the US' list in June.
The sanctions come as part of ongoing efforts by the US government to target Iran's finances amid military conflict between the two countries. The Treasury Department has designated several other digital asset exchanges and frozen millions of dollars in wallets linked to Iran in recent months.