On Tuesday, the Trump administration announced new sanctions against Iranian financial and shipping networks that it says help Tehran move oil revenue, evade international sanctions and fund activity across the Middle East.
The action covers Iranian currency exchange houses, associated personnel, front companies and 19 vessels, according to the U.S. Department of State. Officials said the networks are tied to Iran’s shadow financial system and shipping operations used to move money from oil and petrochemical sales.
At the center of the latest designations is Amin Exchange, which U.S. officials described as a major Iranian currency exchange house. The State Department said Amin Exchange works through front companies in the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, China and Hong Kong to launder money for sanctioned Iranian banks and state-owned enterprises.
The sanctions are part of the Trump administration’s “Economic Fury” campaign, a broader effort to increase pressure on Iran’s financial, petroleum and petrochemical sectors.
“By taking steps to dismantle these financial channels, the United States aims to deny the Iranian regime the resources it uses to threaten regional stability, support terrorist organizations, and develop weapons programs,” State Department spokesperson Thomas “Tommy” Pigott said in the statement.
Tuesday’s action was taken under Executive Order 13902, which targets people and entities operating in Iran’s financial, petroleum and petrochemical sectors. The State Department said the move builds on earlier Treasury Department actions against exchange houses, digital asset exchanges and other groups accused of helping Iran avoid sanctions.
Alongside the sanctions announcement, the State Department pointed to a reward offer from its Rewards for Justice program. The program is offering up to $15 million for information that helps disrupt financial mechanisms used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its branches, including the IRGC-Qods Force.
Rewards for Justice said it is seeking information on IRGC revenue sources, front companies, financial institutions, exchange houses, donors, business interests and sanctions-evasion networks. The program also said it wants information on how the IRGC moves funds and materials to proxy and militia groups.
The U.S. government says the IRGC and its Qods Force have financed terrorist attacks and supported groups including Hamas, Hizballah and Iran-backed militias in Iraq.
The IRGC was designated by the State Department as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in April 2019. The Treasury Department had earlier designated the IRGC as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2017, citing its support for the IRGC-Qods Force.
The latest sanctions signal that Washington is continuing to focus on Iran’s financial and energy networks, not only military-linked entities. U.S. officials said the administration will keep targeting the international network that sustains what it calls Iran’s illicit energy trade.
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