ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The US on Friday moved to sever the Emirati branch of Egypt's second-largest bank from the US financial system, calling it a "critical node" for Iranian illicit finance amid a widening crackdown on Tehran's global economic lifelines.
“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,” US Treasury Secretary Tom Bessent said on X, outlining broader efforts to sever “the remaining financial lifelines that sustain the Iranian regime.”
“Treasury promised to sever every economic lifeline Tehran has left and finally end the threat of the Iranian regime” and “warned that Iran’s enablers cannot continue to enjoy access to the U.S. dollar and the global financial system,” he said.
The US on Tuesday enacted a sweeping sanctions package dubbed Operation Economic Outcast designed to aggressively curtail Iran's military capabilities and sever primary revenue streams, warning countries doing business with Tehran to cut ties.
In the latest Friday move under Operation Economic Outcast, The Treasury proposed a rule to revoke Banque Misr UAE’s correspondent banking access to US financial institutions in addition to sanctions on Bank Melli Dubai manager Reza Mohammad Taeedi, along with a Hong Kong-based front company that has “helped launder funds for a sanctioned Iranian exchange house.”
According to a Friday US Treasury press release, Banque Misr’s UAE branch, Egypt’s second-largest bank, has been responsible for processing suspected billions of dollars for the Iranian regime in the past 2.5 years via front companies used by Iran’s Ministry of Defense and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to evade US sanctions, as well as to launder money on behalf of Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.
“Treasury estimates that between January 2024 and June 2026, Banque Misr UAE processed approximately $1.8 billion for 103 companies that are potentially part of Iranian shadow banking networks,” read the press release, assessing the branch as “a critical node for the Iranian regime’s access to U.S. dollars.”
The rule is subject to a 30-day public comment period before it takes effect, the Treasury said.
The Treasury announced late Monday that “Any entity that facilitates money laundering or sanctions evasion on behalf of Iran risks being cut off from the U.S. financial system,” following the expansion of secondary sanctions exposure for “those who continue doing business with the Iranian regime.”
Operation Economic Outcast comes days after Trump earlier in August vowed to launch "the most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country" against Iran, describing the move as "economic warfare and isolation on an unprecedented scale."
The economic escalation follows the US’s mid-April launch of Economic Fury - the financial counterpart to Operation Epic Fury, a six-week joint US-Israeli military campaign that began in late February following US-Israeli strikes across Iran.
