US Treasury Expands Iran Sanctions to Cover $100M Digital Asset Activity

The U.S. Treasury said August 24 that OFAC expanded sanctions exposure to Iran’s digital-asset sector, allowing action against foreign persons operating in or supporting it. The move makes cryptocurrency activity a formal target within Washington’s broader Iran sanctions architecture, alongside technology, gold, aviation and shipping.

Treasury also designated UAE-based Ukrainian national Ivan Obukhov, who it said has facilitated Iranian oil shipments for the military and its proxies. Since 2023, Obukhov allegedly processed more than $100 million in cryptocurrency payments tied to Iranian oil sales on behalf of the IRGC-QF and purchased vessels later used for sanctions-evasion activity.

The action forms part of Operation Economic Outcast, which also sanctioned nearly 60 entities, individuals and vessels across multiple jurisdictions. Treasury said Iran increasingly uses cryptocurrency for sanctions evasion, leaving digital-asset intermediaries facing greater secondary-sanctions exposure if they support designated Iranian networks or blocked persons.

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