US Sanctions 35 Individuals, Entities To Dismantle Iran’s Shadow Banking

Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The U.S. Treasury Department on April 28 imposed sanctions on 35 individuals and entities accused of running Iran’s secret shadow banking network.

Treasury has accused the network of transferring tens of billions of dollars to help Iran dodge U.S. sanctions and finance terrorism.

The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control is sanctioning a network of shell companies, exchange houses, and operators connected to Iranian banks, such as Shahr Bank, that have enabled the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other Iran-backed armed forces to gain access to the international financial system.

U.S. officials said the networks facilitate payments for illicit Iranian oil sales, purchases of missile components, and transfers to Tehran’s terrorist proxies.

“Iran’s shadow banking system serves as a critical financial lifeline for its armed forces, enabling activities that disrupt global trade and fuel violence across the Middle East,” Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in a statement.

“Illicit funds funneled through this network support the regime’s ongoing terrorist operations, posing a direct threat to U.S. personnel, regional allies, and the global economy. Financial institutions are on notice: Any institution that facilitates or engages with these networks is at risk of severe consequences.”

Those targeted on Tuesday include the Farab Soroush Afagh Qeshm Company, described as overseeing fund movements for Shahr Bank’s clients through foreign front companies. Sorayya Mehri Hajibaba, an employee and foreign exchange expert, was sanctioned for facilitating transfers since at least mid-2023. And Seyyed Mohammed Mehdi Al Ghafur, an Iran-based shadow banking official, was targeted for laundering money on behalf of Shahr Bank via exchange houses.

The action also included the previously sanctioned HMS Trading FZE, along with its Iran-based sister company Tejarat Hermes Energy Qeshm Company. UK-based Shuqun LTD and its owner, Janelyn Eusebio Emperador, drew sanctions for transferring more than $70 million in payments for Iranian crude oil and distillates through 2024 on behalf of the National Iranian Oil Co. Emperador also controls Sanovo LTD and Qianza LTD.

Additional rahbar companies, which oversee shell company networks to process payments tied to Iran’s imports and exports and are linked to major Iranian banks, received sanction designations for operating in the financial sector.

The Treasury also issued new guidance threatening sanctions for entities that make “toll” payments to the Iranian regime or the IRGC in exchange for traversing the Strait of Hormuz.

Conducted under the Treasury’s “Operation Economic Fury,” the move follows earlier sanction efforts, with Bessent saying on Monday that doing business with sanctioned Iranian airlines could mean U.S. sanctions, as he called on foreign governments to block support services for those aircraft as commercial flights resume from Tehran.

The Treasury Department on April 24 sanctioned a Chinese refinery and 40 shipping firms and vessels found to be providing a lifeline to the Iranian oil economy. This came after a March 20 announcement by the United States that it had sanctioned entities it says are tied to the petroleum trade between Iran and China.

Since February 2025, the United States has sanctioned approximately 1,000 Iran-linked persons, vessels, and aircraft in its maximum-pressure campaign.

Sanctions were levied under Executive Order 13902, targeting Iran’s financial sector, and under Executive Order 13224, for counterterrorism. They bar all property of the designated parties under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibit U.S. persons from most dealings with them. Foreign parties also risk penalties for causing violations or evading the rules.