- A key financier for Iran’s supreme leader among those attacked.
- The United States sanctions Dubai-based banker Ali Ansari for ties to Iran.
- Treasury’s Bessent says the United States is working to isolate the Iranian leader.
The United States issued new Iran-related sanctions targeting a key financier of Iran’s new Supreme Leader and 13 other individuals and entities, following Tehran’s resumption of attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, the Treasury Department said.
The sanctions targeted Ali Ansari, a Dubai-based Iranian banker and businessman who had previously been sanctioned by Britain for his alleged role in financially supporting the activities of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and other entities, the Treasury said.
The Treasury said Ansari had diverted publicly funded wealth into an extensive portfolio of overseas real estate and commercial properties to enrich himself, government elites and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also targeted three Iran-based exchange houses and foreign “front companies” that it said moved billions of dollars annually on behalf of sanctioned Iranian banks, using layers of shell companies to conceal illicit government activity.
“The United States is taking decisive action to cut off the financial lifelines supporting Iran’s ruling elite,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a statement. “By attacking these networks, the United States is directly disrupting the government’s ability to access foreign currency and conduct international financial activities.”
The Treasury announced the sanctions on a day of relative calm after a week of renewed conflict, when three Qatari and Saudi commercial oil tankers were attacked by Iran, prompting the United States to attack Iranian sites and Iran to respond with attacks on US military sites in the Gulf states.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that the ceasefire agreed with Iran had ended, but that Washington had agreed to continue talks at Iran’s request.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement that the department would “continue to use all tools at its disposal” to isolate Khamenei and other top Iranian officials from the global financial system.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said early Saturday that Bessent had violated Article 9 of the memorandum of understanding, describing it as a violation that follows “other violations and missteps by the United States.”
“Reality check: there can only be mutual compliance,” Araghchi said in a post on X, adding that Iran “has so far kept its word.”
Iran has said it is prepared for “total defense” if the United States violates the memorandum of understanding agreed to last month. Its chief negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, promised on Telegram that the war would never end with Tehran’s surrender.
Brett Erickson, CEO of Obsidian Risk Advisors, said the new sanctions sent a clear message to Tehran. “Washington is no longer trying to save the existing framework. It is preparing to replace it entirely,” he said.
Under Article 9 of the US-Iran deal, Washington agreed that it “will not impose new sanctions and will not deploy additional forces to the region.”
The Treasury said Ansari was previously the owner and director of the US-sanctioned and now bankrupt Ayandeh Bank, which was closed on orders from the Iranian government in mid-October 2025.
It said Ansari used numerous shell companies and bank accounts in multiple jurisdictions to amass millions of dollars in holdings under St. Kitts and Nevis-based Smart Global Limited, a holding company established in 2011 that invested in real estate and commercial properties in Europe, the Gulf and other regions.
“Although they are in Ansari’s name, many of these financial interests are ultimately held for the financial benefit of Mojtaba Khamenei, his family and other Iranian elites in the regime and the IRGC who have protected Ansari from facing punishment despite his blatant corruption and the significant harm he has caused to the Iranian economy and people,” the Treasury said.
OFAC also announced measures against Iranian nationals involved with the three exchange houses, as well as against Hong Kong-based CDM Trading Limited, which it said was conducting financial transactions for those exchange houses, and Naba Alzaki Raw Materials Trading LLC, based in the United Arab Emirates.
