Alleged Iran Money Laundering Network Hit With US Sanctions
The US imposed sanctions on a network of individuals and companies it accuses of laundering billions of dollars from illegal activities for the Iranian government, as the Trump administration continues its 'maximum pressure' campaign against Tehran.
The Treasury Department said the penalties target more than 30 individuals, as well as 16 companies based in Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates.
'Iran's shadow banking system is a critical lifeline for the regime through which it accesses the proceeds from its oil sales, moves money, and funds its destabilizing activities,' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
The Treasury announcement names Iran's Zarringhalam brothers — Mansour, Nasser, and Fazlolah — as facilitators behind the network that gives sanctioned Iranian individuals and organizations access to the international financial system.
It allegedly operates as a parallel banking system, where Iran-based exchange houses broker settlements through front companies in Hong Kong and the UAE.
'The United States will continue to deny Iran access to financial networks and the global banking system as long as Iran continues its destabilizing activities,' the State Department said in a separate statement on the sanctions.
The Trump administration has imposed several rounds of sanctions on Iran even as negotiations for a nuclear deal continue.
Tensions are mounting ahead of a still-unscheduled next round of talks, with President Donald Trump declaring the US won't allow Iran to pursue uranium enrichment, and Tehran slamming a US nuclear deal proposal for being ambiguous.
At a briefing on Thursday, a State Department spokesperson encouraged Iran to agree with the proposal.
'It is in their best interest to accept it,' said principal deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott. 'We've also been clear, again and again and again, that the Iranian regime can never have a nuclear weapon.'
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
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