U.S. Slaps Sanctions On 'Shadow Banking' Network That Moved Billions For Iranian Regime

Washington D.C./10.03.23/Turan:   The Biden Administration on Thursday imposed sanctions on 39 entities, including many based in the UAE and Hong Kong, that it says facilitated Iran's access to the global financial system, describing them as a "shadow banking" network that moves billions of dollars, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"Iranian currency exchange houses create front companies abroad to enable trade on behalf of their Iranian clients and help them evade U.S. sanctions," Secretary of State Antoni Blinken said in a statement. "Companies utilizing these networks have generated tens of billions of dollars for the Iranian regime across a variety of fields," he added.

Washington has also targeted Chinese companies over the export of Iran's petrochemicals as the prospects of reviving the nuclear pact have dimmed. They are responsible for the sale and shipment of thousands of components, including those used in Shahed-series UAVs, to the Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company, which was sanctioned in September 2008.

"Iran cultivates complex sanctions evasion networks where foreign buyers, exchange houses, and dozens of front companies cooperatively help sanctioned Iranian companies to continue to trade," Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a separate statement.

According to him, the new measures showed the U.S. commitment to enforcing sanctions and its "ability to disrupt Iran's foreign financial networks, which it uses to launder funds."

Blinken in his turn noted that the U.S, "will continue to use every tool at our disposal to disrupt these efforts and work with allies and partners to hold Iran accountable for its actions."

Alex Raufoglu