U.S. sanctions Khamenei financial network, covert Iranian exchange firms
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – The United States has imposed a new round of sanctions targeting a key financial associate of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s office, Mojtaba Khamenei, as well as a network of covert Iranian exchange companies accused of facilitating billions of dollars in transactions for sanctioned banks.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced Friday that the sanctions target Ali Ansari, described as one of the Iranian regime’s most prominent financial intermediaries. According to the Treasury, Ansari oversees a vast global network of assets and investments that benefit Mojtaba Khamenei and senior Iranian officials.
The sanctions also target several Iranian exchange companies accused of transferring billions of dollars annually on behalf of Iranian banks already under U.S. sanctions.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington would “continue using every tool at its disposal” to isolate Iranian regime leaders from the global financial system, adding that the targeted assets will ultimately remain preserved for the Iranian people.
Bessent accused Ansari of exploiting his close ties with senior Iranian officials to divert billions of dollars in public funds into an extensive portfolio of overseas real estate and commercial investments benefiting Mojtaba Khamenei, officials in the Supreme Leader’s office, members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and himself.
The Treasury noted that Ansari previously owned and managed Iran’s Future Bank, which had already been sanctioned by the United States before Iranian authorities declared the bank bankrupt and dissolved it in October 2025.
The latest measures also target exchange firms that U.S. officials say enable sanctioned Iranian banks to conduct international financial transactions through front companies designed to conceal illicit financial activity.
The Treasury said the sanctions are part of an ongoing strategy to dismantle Iran’s clandestine financial networks, deprive the government of resources used to finance domestic and regional activities, and prevent it from circumventing international sanctions.