The United States has announced new sanctions targeting 35 organisations and individuals linked to Iran’s clandestine financial network.
According to the US State Department, the shadow banking networks, which enable the transfer of tens of billions of dollars to evade sanctions, allow the Iranian armed forces, in particular the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, to illegally access the international financial system to generate revenue from illegal oil sales, purchase sensitive components for missiles and other weapons systems, and finance Iranian proxy terrorist groups throughout the Middle East.
The US State Department notes that by destroying these financial channels, Washington underscores its commitment to applying maximum pressure on Iran.
“The United States will continue to interrupt the illicit funding streams that enable Iran’s malign activities. We will not stop our efforts to deprive Iran and its proxy groups of the resources they use to threaten U.S. interests and regional stability,” said department spokesman Tommy Pigott.
The United States maintains a comprehensive sanctions regime against Iran, including a near-total trade embargo on US citizens, frozen Iranian assets, a ban on cooperation with the Iranian government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (quir), and secondary sanctions that penalise foreign companies for involvement in Iran’s oil, petrochemical, shipping, financial and weapons sectors.
As part of the ongoing “maximum pressure” campaign, the US has applied hundreds of new sanctions targeting shadow fleets, illicit financial networks and proliferation activities since 2025.
In a message on X, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that funds flowing through this shadow banking system “support the regime’s ongoing terrorist operations, posing a direct threat to U.S. personnel, regional allies, and the global economy.”