The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced this Thursday the adoption of new sanctions directed against 16 individuals and ten companies, including exchange houses and financial entities, within the economic pressure campaign driven by the Trump Administration against the Central Asian country.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has extended these restrictions to five women and eleven men of Iranian nationality, as well as to a set of eleven companies, all based in Tehran except for one registered in Hong Kong and the International Development Bank for Investment and Finance, headquartered in Baghdad.
Among the nine Iranian firms included in this 'blacklist' from Washington are two banks, two exchange houses, and a company dedicated to energy supply.
At the same time, the Treasury has issued an "alert" about "abuses by the Iranian regime of religious charity networks, including the diversion of religious tithes, or 'khums'," urging financial entities to report when they detect such practices.
"It is known that the Iranian regime exploits seemingly religious organizations in Iran and neighboring countries to enrich its elites, finance the repression of the Iranian people, and support terrorism abroad," it specifies.
"Furthermore, the regime appropriates khums payments from the global Shia community to promote its destabilizing activities," assured its secretary, Scott Bessent, who framed his warning within the "Economic Marginalization" operation announced last August against the Asian country.