Following Iran's resumption of attacks on international shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Iranian financier Ali Ansari, his holding company Smart Global Limited, three Iranian exchange houses, their controllers and two front companies. The action targets a network Treasury said channels wealth to Mojtaba Khamenei, other regime elites and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, while moving and holding the equivalent of billions of USD for sanctioned Iranian banks through shell-company structures. Ansari, a Dubai-based Iranian national and former owner and director of the now-defunct Ayandeh Bank, was designated under authorities tied to the Supreme Leader and counterterrorism. Treasury said he used shell companies and bank accounts across multiple jurisdictions to build overseas real estate and commercial holdings through Saint Kitts and Nevis-based Smart Global Limited, with assets in Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, the United Kingdom, Cyprus and the United Arab Emirates. Separately, Mohammad Darbani and Partners Exchange General Partnership Company, Lavasani and Partners General Partnership Company, and Mohsen Khandan and Partners General Partnership Company, along with their controlling partners and officers, were designated under Iran financial-sector sanctions. The firms facilitated hundreds of millions of USD in foreign-currency transactions for sanctioned Iranian banks, and Khandan Exchange held more than USD 117 million for those banks. Hong Kong-based CDM Trading Limited and UAE-based Naba Alzaki Raw Materials Trading LLC were also designated as front companies used by Iranian exchange houses. The designations block property and interests in property of the named persons that are in the United States or under U.S. persons' control, and U.S. persons are generally barred from dealings involving them. Entities owned 50 percent or more by blocked persons are also blocked, and foreign financial institutions that knowingly conduct or facilitate significant transactions for designated persons risk correspondent-account restrictions or other secondary sanctions.
U.S. Department of the Treasury2026-07-10
U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions Ali Ansari network tied to Mojtaba Khamenei and Iranian exchange houses moving billions for sanctioned banks
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's OFAC sanctioned Iranian financier Ali Ansari, Smart Global Limited, three Iranian exchange houses, their controlling partners and two front companies. Treasury said Ansari managed overseas assets for Mojtaba Khamenei and other regime elites, while the exchange houses moved and held the equivalent of billions of USD for sanctioned Iranian banks. The designations block U.S.-linked property and can expose foreign financial institutions to secondary sanctions.