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Operation Economic Outcast zeroes in on Tehran’s growing use of digital assets
The US has sanctioned Iranian cryptocurrency exchange BitBank and its alleged network, accusing the platform of moving hundreds of millions of dollars to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and processing payments tied to shipping access through the Strait of Hormuz.
The Treasury Department announced the action under Operation Economic Outcast, Washington’s broader campaign to isolate Iran’s financial, commercial and logistical networks.
The move targets what US officials describe as Tehran’s growing use of digital assets to bypass sanctions and maintain access to international finance.
BitBank, developer and associates named
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, designated BitBank, which it said is controlled by Iranian financier Babak Zanjani.
Zanjani was already under US sanctions for his alleged role in helping Iran evade restrictions on oil and financial transactions.
OFAC also sanctioned BitBank’s developer, Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company, as well as three alleged Zanjani associates:
The designations freeze any property or interests in property held by the targets that are within US jurisdiction.
They also prohibit US persons from conducting transactions with them and expose foreign financial institutions or companies to potential sanctions risk if they knowingly facilitate significant dealings with the designated entities.
Alleged link to IRGC and Hormuz payments
Treasury said BitBank had transferred hundreds of millions of dollars in digital assets to the IRGC.
It alleged that the exchange was used by Hormuz Safe, an Iranian maritime-insurance and shipping-services platform previously sanctioned by the US, to process payments collected from vessels seeking to transit safely through the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported.
The allegations come as the Strait of Hormuz remains a major flashpoint in the U.S.-Iran conflict. Tehran has sought to regulate, restrict or impose conditions on commercial transit through the waterway, while Washington has maintained maritime pressure on Iran and contested Tehran’s authority to control international shipping routes.
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Source: gulfnews.com