US Treasury expands sanctions authority to target anyone operating in Iran's crypto sector as part of broader economic pressure campaign.
Regulation & Gov ·
The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control has established a sectoral determination granting it authority to impose sanctions on any person worldwide engaged in Iran's digital asset economy, regardless of location. This action forms part of a broader enforcement push announced Monday by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, termed Operation Economic Outcast, which simultaneously issued determinations covering five sectors: digital assets, technology, gold, aviation, and shipping. The move extends sanctions reach comparable to what Treasury previously held over Iran's financial and petroleum industries.
The sectoral authorization follows Treasury's assertion that Iran relies increasingly on cryptocurrency for circumventing sanctions, citing connections to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and regime officials. Among nearly 60 individuals and entities designated under the operation, one Ukrainian national based in the United Arab Emirates processed over $100 million in cryptocurrency payments facilitating oil transactions for the IRGC's Qods Force since 2023, while another was designated for directing cyber theft of digital assets. Secretary Bessent characterized the campaign's goal as severing economic channels sustaining the Iranian regime.
Iran's Foreign Minister dismissed the sanctions as repetition of failed prior measures, while the country's top security official warned that participating nations would be treated as adversaries. The rial fell to a record open-market level on the announcement day. Questions remain regarding implementation timelines and how third-country compliance will be enforced under the secondary sanctions framework Treasury indicated it would pursue.