On September 17, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added an Iranian digital asset investment company to its sanctions list as part of the U.S. government’s “economic isolation campaign” against Iran.
The company that was sanctioned is named “BitBank,” which is controlled by Babak Zanjani, an Iranian financier who is already on the OFAC sanctions list.
The new sanctions list also includes Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Commerce Company, the software developer for BitBank, as well as three associates of Zanjani: Hossein Ali Zaker Hossein, Mohammad Mahdi Zaker Hossein, and Seyed Adel Heidari.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Bassett stated, “Today’s sanctions on Iran’s digital asset infrastructure clearly demonstrate that the use of cryptocurrencies to fund the Iranian regime is not beyond the jurisdiction of the U.S. Treasury Department’s OFAC. If you support the Iranian regime, the Treasury Department will sanction you.”
Zanjani was originally sentenced to death in Iran in 2016 for embezzling millions of dollars from the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), but he was granted clemency in 2024. In 2025, he resurfaced publicly in support of economic projects related to the Iranian regime.
In addition to being involved in high-profile infrastructure and transportation projects, Zanjani has established a network of digital asset companies, some of which are used for money laundering for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Iran. Through this comprehensive infrastructure, Zanjani’s businesses serve both as public commercial entities and as secret financial channels to help Iran evade sanctions and support entities related to the Iranian regime.
BitBank is an Iranian cryptocurrency exchange and a significant part of Zanjani’s digital asset network. Since at least 2024, Zanjani has been promoting BitBank’s services on his social media accounts.
The U.S. Treasury Department stated that since June of this year, the Iranian company “Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority” that was sanctioned by OFAC has been using BitBank to transfer funds received to the Iranian regime. From June to July, Zanjani transferred hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Bitcoin to the IRGC using BitBank.
On August 24, U.S. Treasury Secretary Bassett announced the launch of “Operation Economic Outcast” targeting the Iranian regime and its supporters, aimed at cutting off the last economic lifeblood that sustains the Iranian regime.
Bassett stated that the Treasury Department has identified networks, intermediaries, and financial channels that Iran uses for smuggling oil, evading sanctions, and financing terrorism. The Treasury Department is working with the U.S. government, the European Union, the UK, Gulf partners, and other allies to combat all illicit revenue sources of the Iranian regime.
The Treasury Department also warned that entities providing money laundering or sanctions evasion assistance to Iran may be cut off from the U.S. financial system. Entities continuing business dealings with the Iranian regime will face secondary sanctions, and the pace of U.S. law enforcement actions against them will be accelerated.
Previously, OFAC had already sanctioned multiple digital asset entities and intermediaries associated with Zanjani.