The United States Treasury and State Departments announced that they have taken action to cut off the Iranian regime’s financial lifeline, targeting a Dubai-based Iranian agent and financier as well as three Iranian currency exchange houses. These targets have been financing several of the ruling elite, including the ‘Supreme Leader’ Mojtaba Khamenei.
2+Ali Ansari, who has been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department, is an Iranian businessman based in Dubai with ties to the regime as well as Khamenei. Ansari used shell companies and bank accounts to accumulate millions of dollars, which were held in Smart Global Limited, a holding company in Saint Kitts and Nevis, islands located near the Virgin Islands.
Ansari invested the funds, which belong to the Iranian people, in properties in multiple countries, including Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, the United Kingdom, Cyprus, and the United Arab Emirates. Despite the investments made in Ansari’s name, the funds were held for the benefit of the leaders in Iran.
2+Ansari made his fortune by embezzlement. Iran’s Central Bank would back billions of dollars worth of loans taken by Ansari from he now-bankrupt Ayandeh Bank, which Ansari himself owned, to finance his commercial ventures. He would later expand his business outside of the country on behalf of Mojataba Khamenei.
The exchange houses targeted by the U.S. are also a means for the regime to funnel money from Iranian banks to the elite. The houses, Mohammad Darbani and Partners, Lavasani and Partners, and Mohsen Khandan and Partners, have been used with front companies in the UAE and Hong Kong as part of the financial network of the regime.
2+Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in a statement: “The so-called Supreme Leader is hiding in seclusion while his regime crumbles,” adding that, “Treasury will continue using every tool at its disposal to isolate him and other regime elites from the global financial system. We will preserve these assets for the Iranian people.”
In a press statement, State Department spokesperson Thomas Pigott stated: “These actions reflect the Trump Administration’s commitment to holding accountable all those who enable the regime’s corruption and regional aggression.”