US targets shadow banking network using crypto to fund Iranian military
The US Treasury Department has sanctioned two Iranian financial facilitators and 16 entities based in Hong Kong and the UAE for allegedly coordinating over $100 million in cryptocurrency purchases to fund Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and military operations.
The action targets what Treasury called Iran’s ‘shadow banking’ networks that use overseas front companies and cryptocurrency to evade sanctions and launder money for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force and Iran’s Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics.
Between 2023 and 2025, Iranian nationals Alireza Derakhshan and Arash Estaki Alivand coordinated the purchase of over $100 million worth of cryptocurrency for Iranian oil sales, using a network of front companies across multiple jurisdictions to transfer the digital currency funds.
‘Iranian entities rely on shadow banking networks to evade sanctions and move millions through the international financial system,’ said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John Hurley, calling it part of President Donald Trump’s ‘maximum pressure’ campaign against Iran.
The sanctioned network includes UAE-based companies called Unique Station Trading, Minato Investment, Everest Investment, and Alliance First Trading that Treasury said knowingly facilitate illicit fund flows for Iranian military procurement.
The action represents the second round of sanctions targeting Iran’s shadow banking infrastructure since Trump issued a directive in February ordering maximum pressure on Iran. Treasury previously sanctioned the Zarringhalam brothers’ network in June for laundering billions through exchange houses and front companies.
Iranian shadow banking networks allow sanctioned military organisations to access the international financial system and facilitate oil exports, with proceeds funding weapons programmes including ballistic missiles and drones that threaten US forces and allies.
The Treasury action freezes any US-based assets of the designated individuals and entities and prohibits Americans from conducting business with them, while warning that foreign financial institutions risk secondary sanctions for facilitating transactions with the network.
