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New U.S. sanctions on over 30 entities and individuals managing Iran’s “Shadow Banking Network”

2025.06.07, 09:30
New U.S. sanctions on over 30 entities and individuals managing Iran’s “Shadow Banking Network”

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced on Friday that it has sanctioned 37 individuals and entities based in Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, and China. The department stated that this “shadow banking network” enabled Tehran to access billions of dollars from oil sales through money laundering.

Gunaz.tv

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement that the 37 sanctioned individuals and entities are linked to three Iranian brothers — Mansour, Naser, and Fazlollah Zarrinqalam — who laundered billions of dollars through Iranian exchange offices and foreign front companies under their control. They are considered part of Iran’s so-called “shadow banking” network.

The Treasury stated:

“Iran uses this network to evade sanctions and to transfer revenues from oil and petrochemical sales to fund its nuclear and missile programs, as well as terrorist proxy groups.”

According to the department, this is the first time since former President Donald Trump reinstated the maximum pressure campaign on Iran that Washington has targeted infrastructure associated with Iran’s “shadow banking network.”

The Treasury explained that the Zarrinqalam brothers, through front companies in the UAE and Hong Kong, facilitated the receipt of payments for oil, oil products, and other goods on behalf of officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran and affiliated traders. Iran’s main exporters of oil and petrochemicals, along with military institutions, have used this network to bypass U.S. sanctions and transfer export-related funds.

This is not the first time the Zarrinqalam brothers have been named in connection with Iran’s oil sales. Two years ago, “WikiIran” published documents revealing their role in facilitating transactions for Iran’s oil sales network under the direction of Hossein Shamkhani, son of Ali Shamkhani, a senior advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Last year, Bloomberg published a series of reports detailing Hossein Shamkhani’s role — known by the alias “Hector” — in the sale of billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian oil and oil products.

According to the U.S. Treasury Department, Mansour Zarrinqalam and Naser Zarrinqalam run the “Mansour Zarrinqalam & Partners” (GCM) and “Naser Zarrinqalam & Partners” (Berlian) exchange offices in Iran, respectively, and oversee an extensive network of front companies mainly in the UAE and Hong Kong. These front companies hold accounts in various currencies in multiple banks to facilitate payments for sanctioned Iranian entities, including the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

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