The U.S. Department of the Treasury's OFAC has imposed sanctions on two cryptocurrency exchanges linked to Iran

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has officially designated two cryptocurrency exchanges and an Iranian national as sanctioned entities for their involvement in money laundering activities on behalf of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The exchanges targeted by this action are Shelbit and Aban Tether. OFAC stated that these entities facilitated illegal cryptocurrency activities and sanctions evasion, thereby supporting the IRGC. According to OFAC's announcement, more than $1 million in cryptocurrency flowed from wallets controlled by the IRGC to addresses associated with Shelbit, and Shelbit was directly involved in transferring digital assets worth $2 million to IRGC wallets. Separately, wallets linked to the Iranian national, Seybash Kayanpour, who has also been sanctioned, were confirmed to have transferred $2 million to Nobitex, an Iranian exchange that was added to the U.S. sanctions list in June. One of the companies associated with Kayanpour is reportedly directly operating Shelbit. In a statement, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said: