U.S. Treasury Expands Sanctions on Iran's Crypto Sector, Involving Over $100 Million in Oil Payments

Huo Xing Finance reports that the U.S. Department of the Treasury has expanded its sanctions framework against Iran to include the digital asset sector, stating that related cryptocurrency payments exceeding $1 billion have been used to facilitate Iran’s crude oil sales. The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has also imposed sanctions on nearly 60 entities, individuals, and vessels involved in nuclear, missile, cyber, and crude oil networks. This expansion of digital asset sanctions authorizes OFAC to sanction foreign individuals and companies operating in or providing support services to Iran’s digital asset sector. The U.S. Department of the Treasury stated that Iran is increasingly using cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions, including transactions linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and government insiders. OFAC identified Ukrainian broker Ivan Obukhov, a citizen of the UAE, as having processed over $100 million in cryptocurrency payments since 2023 to assist the IRGC’s Quds Force in facilitating crude oil sales. OFAC has added Ivan Obukhov and his UAE-based company, Foscom FZE, to its sanctions list.