“Central to this network and sanctioned today pursuant to our counterterrorism authority is Iran's IRGC-controlled Ansar Bank and its currency exchange arm, Ansar Exchange, both of which used layers of intermediary entities to exchange devalued Iranian rial ultimately for dollars and euros to line the pockets of the IRGC and MODAFL [Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics]," read a statement from the US treasury department.
The US claims Iran is using intermediaries to try to bypass trade, energy, and weapons sanctions. The action forbids individuals and businesses from having financial interactions with the sanctioned entities.
U.S. disrupts large scale front company network transferring hundreds of millions of dollars and euros to the IRGC and Iran’s Ministry of Defense https://t.co/QHZBk90XhA pic.twitter.com/2CbTeviwS8
— Treasury Department (@USTreasury) March 26, 2019
"Today’s action exposes an extensive sanctions evasion network established by the Iranian regime, which it increasingly relies on as the United States’ maximum pressure campaign severely constricts the regime’s sources of revenue," the statement added.
Since leaving the Iranian nuclear deal (JCPOA) last year, the administration of US President Donald Trump has continuously levelled sanctions against the Iranian government and their supporters.
“We are targeting a vast network of front companies and individuals located in Iran, Turkey, and the UAE to disrupt a scheme the Iranian regime has used to illicitly move more than a billion dollars in funds,” said Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin
Washington again claimed the regime in Iran "funds terrorism and other destabilizing activities across the region.”
Mnuchin described Ansar Bank and Ansar Exchange as under control of the IRGC.
A wide array of regional front companies is used by Ansar, according to Washington.
"In just the last year-and-a-half, four front companies: UAE-based Sakan General Trading, Lebra Moon General Trading, and Naria General Trading, as well as Iran-based Hital Exchange, all designated today — provided the equivalent of approximately $800 million in funds to Ansar Exchange.," the statement detailed.
There was no mention of Iraqi institutions being involved in the scheme. Earlier this month, Washington granted Baghdad another three-month waiver on the sanctions.
Baghdad repeatedly says it wants to abide by the US sanctions, but doing so is practically impossible as they share such a large border, close relations, and Iran is war-ravaged Iraq's largest trade partner.
On March 21, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said "the economy is the country's urgent problem."
The Iranian people are feeling the brunt of the building sanctions. Since the US government withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal, the value of the Iranian currency, the rial, has been on a steep curve losing more than 60 percent of its value.
