The United States has sanctioned crypto exchanges and companies it alleges helped Iran evade financial restrictions. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington would continue targeting
The United States has sanctioned crypto exchanges and companies it alleges helped Iran evade financial restrictions.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington would continue targeting funding networks supporting the Iranian government.
The U.S. Treasury on Aug. 7 sanctioned crypto exchanges Shelbit and Aban Tether, alongside Shelbit founder Siavash Kayvanpour and several related companies.
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U.S. Department of Treasury said that Shelbit provided financial support to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and crypto exchange Nobitex.
The measures offer another sign that Washington is intensifying financial pressure on Tehran even as the two sides remain locked in a five-month conflict and negotiations continue over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
“Treasury will hunt down and dismantle the illicit financial networks that keep the regime afloat,” Bessent said in an Aug. 7 statement.
Treasury alleged Shelbit processed millions of dollars in crypto for the IRGC and other Iran-linked groups. The department also claimed tens of millions of dollars passing through the platform originated from a Persian-language gambling network.
In an Aug. 1 statement, however, Shelbit had rejected allegations of knowingly facilitating sanctions evasion, money laundering or terrorist financing. It had said its customer operations had ended in January 2026.
Aban Tether was separately sanctioned for allegedly processing millions of dollars in transactions involving previously sanctioned Iranian exchanges, including Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin and Ramzinex.
The latest action extends Washington’s long-running use of economic restrictions against Iran.
The U.S. first imposed sanctions on Iran in 1979 following the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.
That campaign accelerated after President Donald Trump returned to office.
Since early 2025, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has sanctioned more than 1,000 people, vessels and aircraft, according to Treasury data cited by Reuters.
The sanctions come as Iran and Oman negotiate arrangements for commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important energy shipping routes.
Iran said on Aug. 5 that the geographical coordinates of a proposed route had been agreed with Oman, though significant disagreements remained over Tehran’s authority over vessels and potential fees.
Trump said on Aug. 6 that the strait was “sort of open right now,” but vessel traffic remained heavily restricted, with fewer than 10 ships per day crossing from Aug. 2 to Aug. 4.
