The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned 17 Iranian financial facilitators and companies for helping Tehran’s military evade sanctions through cryptocurrency and shell companies.
The network moved over $100 million in oil proceeds to Iran’s elite Qods Force and defense ministry.
The designations mark Washington’s second crackdown on Iran’s shadow banking infrastructure since President Trump ordered a maximum pressure campaign against Tehran.
These clandestine networks fund Iran’s ballistic missile programs and regional proxy groups that threaten U.S. forces and allies.
“Iranian entities rely on shadow banking networks to evade sanctions and move millions through the international financial system,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K. Hurley. “Under President Trump’s leadership, we will continue to disrupt these key financial streams that fund Iran’s weapons programs and malign activities in the Middle East and beyond.”
Two Iranian nationals, Alireza Derakhshan and Arash Estaki Alivand, coordinated cryptocurrency purchases worth over $100 million from Iranian oil sales between 2023 and 2025. They operated through front companies across multiple jurisdictions to transfer the digital funds.
Alivand worked as a financial facilitator for Syria-based Al-Qatirji Company, a primary partner of Iran’s Qods Force in oil sales. He coordinated payments through Minato Commercial Brokers, a front company run by Derakhshan, and conducted million-dollar transactions with a Hezbollah-linked money changer.
Derakhshan manages a network of shell companies in the UAE and Hong Kong despite having no official association with them on paper. These firms, including Alpa Trading and Powell Raw Materials, handle hundreds of millions in transactions for Iran’s defense ministry and Revolutionary Guards.
The Treasury also sanctioned Derakhshan’s associates, Vahid Derakhshan and Leila Karimi, along with 14 companies they control or use. The firms include Dubai-based Unique Station Trading, Minato Investment, and Hong Kong’s Alpa Limited.
Treasury has previously targeted similar shadow banking networks in July and June 2025. One network laundered billions through exchange houses for the Qods Force and other sanctioned Iranian entities.
The sanctions freeze all U.S. property belonging to the designated individuals and companies. American citizens and businesses cannot conduct transactions with them, and foreign banks risk secondary sanctions for facilitating their activities.
Iran’s Qods Force has been under U.S. terrorism sanctions since 2007 for supporting multiple terrorist organizations. Its parent organization, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was designated in 2017.