The U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned on Friday the Dubai branch manager of Iran’s Bank Malli, the country’s biggest bank lender, and proposed cutting an Egyptian bank’s United Arab Emirates branch off from access to U.S. financial institutions.
“Treasury promised to sever every economic lifeline Tehran has left and finally end the threat of the Iranian regime,” Scott Bessent, U.S. treasury secretary, stated. “We also warned that Iran’s enablers cannot continue to enjoy access to the U.S. dollar and the global financial system.
The department sanctioned Iranian national Reza Mohammad Taeedi, general manager of Bank Melli’s Dubai branch, as well as Hong Kong-based Kameng Trading Limited, which Treasury said has helped sanctioned Iranian individuals access the international financial system.
Treasury said Bank Melli has facilitated billions of dollars in transactions through accounts controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, allowing the group and the IRGC to move funds into and out of Iran and finance Iranian-aligned proxies and partners, including in Iraq.
Separately, the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed a rule that would revoke Banque Misr UAE’s access to the U.S. banking system.
“Banque Misr UAE decided to find out the hard way, and today, we are taking the first step in holding it accountable for its continued, egregious support of the Iranian regime,” Bessent said.
According to Treasury, Banque Misr UAE processed about $1.8 billion over a two-and-a-half-year period for more than 100 companies that were potentially part of Iranian shadow banking networks. Such networks help Tehran evade U.S. sanctions and launder money used to purchase weapons and fund its regional terror network.
Treasury said the bank’s customers include apparent front companies used by Iran’s Defense Ministry and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to evade U.S. sanctions, as well as to launder money on behalf of Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.
The actions are among the first under Bessent’s “Operation Economic Outcast,” launched on Aug. 24 to isolate Iran economically by expanding and enforcing secondary sanctions. The campaign seeks to increase the risk of losing access to the U.S. financial system for foreign banks, companies and other entities that continue doing business with Iran.
“Operation Economic Outcast continues in full force” against Iran, Tommy Pigott, spokesman for the U.S. State Department, stated. “As the regime prioritizes its malign activities above the needs of its people, we will sever the economic lifelines sustaining it.”
