WASHINGTON -- The United States imposed sweeping new sanctions targeting an Iranian businessman accused of managing a global financial network for Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and several exchange houses that Washington says have helped Tehran evade sanctions and maintain access to foreign currency.The measures, announced on July 10 by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), target Dubai-based Iranian businessman Ali Ansari, whom US officials accuse of overseeing a sprawling network of commercial and real estate holdings on behalf of Khamenei and other senior regime insiders.According to the Treasury and the State Department, Ansari built a global portfolio of assets spanning Germany, the UK, Spain, Cyprus, the UAE, and other jurisdictions. US officials say the network has served as a financial vehicle for members of Iran's ruling elite and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).Currency Exchanges Also HitThe Treasury also sanctioned three Iranian currency exchange houses -- Mohammad Darbani and Partners, Lavasani and Partners, and Mohsen Khandan and Partners -- along with their managing partners and associated front companies.
US officials allege the firms maintained hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign currency on behalf of sanctioned Iranian banks and relied on shell companies and intermediaries, including entities in Hong Kong and the UAE, to facilitate international financial transactions and obscure the origin of funds.The Treasury said Ansari accumulated much of his wealth through Ayandeh Bank, which collapsed in 2025 after accumulating billions of dollars in debt.Assets linked to him were allegedly held through Smart Global Limited, a Saint Kitts and Nevis-based holding company. OFAC simultaneously issued Iran General License Y, authorizing the wind-down of transactions involving Smart Global Limited.In a separate statement, State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said the measures are intended to sever "the financial lifelines sustaining Iran's ruling elite" by disrupting the regime's access to foreign currency and international financial markets."The United States will continue to pursue sanctions against individuals, companies, and financial institutions -- including foreign entities -- that facilitate illicit Iranian commerce, and will not relent until the Iranian regime ends its destabilizing behavior and its exploitation of the Iranian people," Pigott said.Pressure Campaign IntensifiesThe sanctions come just three days after the Trump administration revoked a general license that had temporarily allowed Iran to sell crude oil, petroleum products, and petrochemicals under the cease-fire memorandum reached last month.
