The US Treasury just took a sledgehammer to Iran’s financial plumbing. Across three separate rounds of sanctions since May, the Office of Foreign Assets Control has dismantled a web of currency exchange houses, shell companies, and petroleum vessels that Tehran relied on to quietly move billions in oil revenue around the world.
Three strikes in three months
The first blow landed on May 1, 2026. OFAC designated three exchange houses, Opal Exchange, Radin Exchange, and Arz Iran Exchange, along with more than a dozen front companies that helped them facilitate billions in transactions. These weren’t peripheral players. They sat at the center of Iran’s foreign currency conversion apparatus, turning oil and petrochemical revenues into usable funds for the regime.
Round two came on May 19, when OFAC sanctioned Amin Exchange and blocked 19 vessels tied to Iranian petroleum exports. Targeting the ships alongside the money movers was a deliberate one-two punch: choke off both the revenue source and the financial channels that launder the proceeds.
The most recent action, on July 10, zeroed in on financier Ali Ansari and three additional exchange houses. These entities had collectively managed over $117 million for sanctioned Iranian banks, routing funds through a labyrinth of corporate structures designed to look legitimate from the outside.
