US Treasury Targets BitBank Linked to Iran Sanctions-Evasion Network

The US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated cryptocurrency exchange BitBank as a target on July 17, in connection with an Iran sanctions-evasion network. The move is part of the Trump administration's economic sanctions campaign against Iran known as 'Operation Economic Outcast.' The Treasury stated that BitBank is part of a digital asset infrastructure built by Iranian financier Babak Zanjani to circumvent sanctions.

The sanctions also include software developer PishTaz Simorgh Electronic Trading Company, and associates of Zanjani: Hussein Ali Jaker Hussein, Mohammad Mahdi Jaker Hussein, and Seyyed Adel Heidari. The Treasury reported that Zanjani transferred hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin through BitBank to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) between June and July. Additionally, the Treasury noted that since June, Hormuz Safe Marine Services authorities have used BitBank to transfer payments to the Iranian regime.