The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control has designated three Iranian foreign currency exchange houses, five associated individuals and 15 companies in a sanctions action aimed at Iran's shadow banking network. Treasury says the exchange houses help Iran convert oil-sale proceeds, often received in CNY, into other currencies that can be used by sanctioned Iranian banks, the Central Bank of Iran, exporters, and the Iranian military and its partners and proxies. Those designated include Opal Exchange, owned by Pedram Pirouzan, Radin Exchange, owned by Nasser Ghasemi Rad, and Tahayyori Guarantee Society or Arz Iran Exchange, owned by Ehsan Tahayyori, along with Pirouzan, Hossein Mohammad Rezaei, Masoud Mohammad Rezaei, Ghasemi Rad, and Tahayyori. OFAC also designated 13 entities for materially assisting Opal Exchange and separately designated Deccan Star Trading L.L.C and Architectonic Corp Limited for operating in the financial sector of the Iranian economy. Treasury says these networks use foreign front companies and commercial bank accounts in multiple jurisdictions to process transactions worth billions of dollars and obscure Iranian links. The designations were made under Executive Order 13902. As a result, property and interests in property of the designated persons that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from dealing with them. Entities owned 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. Treasury said the move forms part of its broader maximum economic pressure campaign against Iran, under which OFAC has sanctioned more than 1,000 Iran-related persons, vessels, and aircraft since February 2025.
U.S. Department of the Treasury 2026-05-01
U.S. Department of the Treasury designates three Iranian exchange houses, five individuals and 15 companies tied to Iran's shadow banking network
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has designated three Iranian foreign currency exchange houses, five individuals and 15 companies for operating in Iran’s shadow banking network that converts oil-sale proceeds, often received in CNY, into other currencies for sanctioned Iranian banks, the Central Bank of Iran, exporters and the Iranian military and its partners and proxies. The designations, under Executive Order 13902, block all U.S.-linked property, generally prohibit U.S. persons from dealings with the listed parties, and extend to entities 50 percent or more owned by blocked persons.