US sanctions Iran’s largest crypto exchange over IRGC links
By Gavin Finch
LONDON, June 2 (Reuters) – The United States announced sanctions on Iran’s largest cryptocurrency exchange on Tuesday, accusing the exchange of allowing the Iranian government and blacklisted state institutions to “circumvent Western sanctions.”
The new sanctions follow a Reuters investigation published on May 1 that showed how Nobitex became a central node in a parallel financial system used to process hundreds of millions of dollars for Iran’s central bank and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The report also revealed how Nobitex continued to operate, processing millions of dollars in transactions even after the government-imposed internet shutdown.
“With Iran’s economy in freefall, the regime has chosen to leverage digital asset technologies for its own corrupt agenda, including evading sanctions and funneling wealth out of the country,” Treasury Undersecretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
The Reuters investigation showed how Nobitex was controlled by two brothers from one of Iran’s most powerful families who had close ties to the new supreme leader. The two are members of the Kharrazi family, one of the Islamic Republic’s most influential dynasties. Corporate records show that when the exchange began, the siblings were listed under a surname rarely used by family members.
The US Treasury announced on Tuesday that two brothers, Seyed Mohammad Ali Aghamir Mohammad Ali and Seyed Mohammad Aghamir Mohammad Ali, were also separately sanctioned, along with the exchange’s CEO, Amir Hossein Rad.
In a statement from the US Treasury, it was stated that Nobitex provided “significant support” to the Iranian government and facilitated a “significant number” of digital transactions linked to the Revolutionary Guard and Iran’s central bank. “Following the start of US combat operations in Iran, Nobitex played a role in safeguarding and moving assets and funds out of Iran to preserve the regime’s wealth despite internet blackouts.”
Nobitex could not be reached to comment on the sanctions announced after normal business hours in Iran. In a statement to customers on its Telegram account on Wednesday, the exchange said it had been anticipating potential problems with sanctions for years, given the “unique challenges faced by Iranian businesses operating internationally.”
“Accordingly, the necessary technical and operational preparations to deal with such situations have long been part of our planning,” the statement said.
In a statement emailed to Reuters in April, Nobitex said it had no direct government connections and refused to assist the government. It was stated that any illicit funds passing through Nobitex did so without the approval or awareness of management. The company also said the two brothers never used an alternate identity or changed their identities.
(Reporting by Gavin Finch; Additional reporting by Denise Ajiri; Editing by Lori Hinnant)
