Foreign Relations

U.S. Sanctions Dubai and Hong Kong Networks That Moved Hundreds of Millions for Iran

Published

Courtroom-sketch editorial illustration of an elevated wide view of the neoclassical United States Treasury Building in Washington, its long columned portico and rows of windows drawn in warm ochre chalk above a broad avenue, two American flags on tall poles in front, cars moving along the street at left and the Washington Monument rising through slate-blue haze in the distance.

The United States Treasury designated a Dubai-based web of exchange houses, front companies and staff that Washington says moved hundreds of millions of dollars for Iran's Shahr Bank and its already sanctioned intermediary Farab Soroush Afagh Qeshm. Titan Exchange and Alps International were blocked, along with shell firms registered in Hong Kong and Singapore, among them Oviedo Overseas and Cailafang. Four Iranian nationals who ran invoices, payments and computer systems for the network were designated, as was Basheer Abdulkadhim Alwan al-Shabbani for moving fighters, weapons and money for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Iran's shadow banking system is buckling and the regime is running out of ways to move money.

Sources

Primary sources:12Secondary sources:3

Related stories

  1. CENTCOM Commander Cooper Visits Israel, Meets Zamir Amid High Iran Alert
  2. ADNOC Says 15 Vessels Attacked in Hormuz, One Crew Member Killed and 20 Injured
  3. No Tankers Load at Kharg Island for a Week as U.S. Blockade Halts Iranian Crude
  4. U.S. Sanctions Dubai Crypto Exchange Shelbit for Moving Funds for Iran's IRGC
  5. IDF Says It Withheld Report of Hezbollah Drone Attack on Troops in South Lebanon

Something went wrong

We couldn't complete that action. Check your connection and try again.