The US Treasury Division’s Workplace of International Property Management (OFAC) has sanctioned two Iranian nationals accused of orchestrating crypto transactions to assist Tehran promote oil in defiance of worldwide restrictions.
On Sept. 16, OFAC named Alireza Derakhshan and Arash Estaki Alivand as central figures in a community that moved greater than $100 million value of crypto between 2023 and 2025.
In keeping with the company, the pair relied on a number of entrance firms throughout jurisdictions to obscure the path of funds utilized in Iran’s oil-for-crypto commerce.
The designations had been made beneath Govt Order 13224, a authorized framework that targets people who materially help or finance terrorism-related entities.
OFAC acknowledged that each males offered monetary and technological assist to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps–Qods Drive (IRGC-QF), one in all Iran’s most sanctioned army branches.
Alivand, described as each an oil dealer and monetary facilitator, labored intently with the Syria-based Al-Qatirji Firm, a long-time accomplice of the IRGC-QF in distributing Iranian oil.
In 2023, he organized a fee from a Derakhshan-run entrance firm to Al-Qatirji, linking crypto-based transactions on to sanctioned oil gross sales.
Alivand additionally transacted multimillions of {dollars} with Tawfiq Muhammad Sa’id Al-Regulation, a Hezbollah-linked cash changer who offered entry to digital wallets for funds tied to IRGC-QF operations.
Derakhshan’s position was equally important. He established and operated firms in Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates to course of transactions for Iranian entities already beneath sanction.
These buildings allowed Tehran to sidestep restrictions whereas holding monetary flows lively in world markets.
John Okay. Hurley, the Underneath Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Monetary Intelligence, mentioned:
“Iranian entities depend on shadow banking networks to evade sanctions and transfer hundreds of thousands by means of the worldwide monetary system.”
Because of the designations, each males at the moment are barred from partaking with US individuals or establishments. Anybody discovered facilitating their transactions dangers secondary sanctions.
The transfer highlights how sanctioned states more and more flip to crypto to skirt conventional monetary obstacles. Iran’s technique mirrors ways utilized by Russia because the invasion of Ukraine, the place digital belongings have change into a part of the toolkit for bypassing Western penalties.
