Treasury Targets Financial Network Supporting Iran’s Military

WASHINGTON — Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating a pair of Iranian financial facilitators and more than a dozen Hong Kong- and United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based individuals and entities for their roles in coordinating funds transfers, including from the sale of Iranian oil, that benefits the IRGC-Qods Force (QF), and Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL). Iranian “shadow banking” networks like these—run by trusted illicit financial facilitators—abuse the international financial system, and evade sanctions by laundering money through overseas front companies and cryptocurrency. The IRGC-QF and MODAFL use these proceeds to support regional terrorist proxy groups and develop advanced weapons systems, including ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which threaten the security of U.S. forces and those of our allies.