BitBank and three associates of sanctioned financier Babak Zanjani targeted over alleged role in transferring hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin to the IRGC
The U.S. Department of the Treasury has imposed new sanctions on an Iranian digital-asset network allegedly used to help the Iran regime evade sanctions and transfer large sums of cryptocurrency to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced the measures on September 17 under what the department calls Operation Economic Outcast, targeting BitBank, an Iranian digital-asset exchange controlled by OFAC-designated Iranian financier Babak Zanjani. The action also targets BitBank’s developer, Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company, and three Zanjani associates: Hossein Ali Zaker Hossein, Mohammad Mahdi Zaker Hossein, and Seyed Adel Heidari.
According to the Treasury, the designated entities and individuals form key parts of an Iranian sanctions-evasion infrastructure based on digital assets.
BitBank Accused of Facilitating IRGC Transfers
The Treasury said that since June 2026, the OFAC-designated Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority has used BitBank to transfer payments it received to the Iran regime.
More broadly, the department said the latest action targets financial infrastructure developed by Zanjani that was used to launder funds and transfer hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin to the IRGC.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the designations demonstrate that cryptocurrency-based efforts to finance the Iran regime remain within OFAC’s reach and warned that individuals and entities supporting the regime could face U.S. sanctions.
The latest measures were imposed under Executive Order 13902, which authorizes sanctions targeting sectors of the Iranian economy, including the digital-asset sector.
Treasury said it intends to pursue not only Iranian digital-asset platforms but also international entities and individuals that facilitate sanctions evasion through the sector.
Babak Zanjani’s Financial Network
The Treasury action puts renewed attention on Babak Zanjani, whom OFAC has previously designated.
According to the department, Zanjani was sentenced to death in Iran in 2016 over the embezzlement of millions of dollars from the National Iranian Oil Company, which is itself subject to U.S. sanctions. His sentence was commuted in 2024, and by 2025 he had publicly re-emerged as a backer of regime-linked economic projects.
Treasury said that alongside infrastructure and transportation ventures, Zanjani developed a network of digital-asset companies that was used in part to launder money for the IRGC.
The department described these businesses as having a dual role: operating as publicly visible commercial ventures while also providing financial channels that could facilitate sanctions evasion and transactions involving Iranian state-linked entities.
BitBank at the Center of the Network
Treasury said Zanjani had promoted BitBank on his social-media accounts since at least 2024 and that the exchange had been identified as a partner by several companies in his broader sanctions-evasion network.
According to OFAC, between June and July 2026, Zanjani used BitBank to facilitate transfers worth hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin to the IRGC.
BitBank’s digital-asset software was developed by Pishtaz Simorgh, a subsidiary of the already sanctioned Dot One Value Creation Group. Treasury said Pishtaz Simorgh had built a commercial brand around BitBank.
OFAC designated both BitBank and Pishtaz Simorgh under Executive Order 13902 for operating in Iran’s digital-asset sector.
Three Zanjani Associates Sanctioned
The Treasury also designated three executives associated with Zanjani’s business network.
Hossein Ali Zaker Hossein was described by Treasury as having participated in much of Zanjani’s alleged sanctions-evasion activity, including Iranian oil exports and digital-asset transfers. The department also said he had brokered cryptocurrency transactions that ultimately went to the IRGC.
Mohammad Mahdi Zaker Hossein, identified as a manager and representative of Dot One, is the CEO of Pishtaz Simorgh. Seyed Adel Heidari serves as vice chairman of Dot One’s board of directors.
OFAC designated Hossein Ali Zaker Hossein for acting or purporting to act for or on behalf of Zanjani. Mohammad Mahdi Zaker Hossein was designated for acting on behalf of Pishtaz Simorgh, while Heidari was designated for acting on behalf of Dot One.
Treasury Expands Pressure on Iran’s Sanctions-Evasion Channels
The BitBank action forms part of a broader U.S. campaign announced by Treasury in August under the name Operation Economic Outcast.
The department said the operation is intended to target the remaining economic channels supporting the Iran regime, including networks involved in oil smuggling, sanctions evasion, and illicit revenue generation.
Treasury said it has mapped networks, intermediaries, and financial channels used by Iran and is working with partners including the European Union, United Kingdom, Gulf states, and other governments.
The department has also warned companies and financial institutions that facilitating money laundering or sanctions evasion on behalf of Iran could expose them to U.S. sanctions and potentially cut them off from the U.S. financial system.
Broad Financial Consequences
The latest designations mean that property and interests in property belonging to the targeted individuals and entities that are in the United States or under the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC.
Entities owned directly or indirectly by blocked persons at a level of 50 percent or more are also generally subject to blocking provisions.
Unless authorized or exempted, U.S. persons are generally prohibited from conducting transactions involving the property or interests in property of designated persons. Treasury also warned that violations can result in civil or criminal penalties, while non-U.S. persons can face sanctions exposure for conduct that causes or conspires to cause violations of U.S. sanctions or evades those sanctions.
The action therefore extends beyond the Iranian entities directly named by OFAC. By targeting the infrastructure and intermediaries allegedly supporting cryptocurrency-based sanctions evasion, Washington is signaling that digital assets will increasingly be treated as part of the Iran regime’s broader financial sanctions-evasion architecture.