On September 16, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated two Iranian financial facilitators and their network of front companies across Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for coordinating cryptocurrency transactions that benefit Iran’s military and defense apparatus. This action represents the latest effort to disrupt Iran’s use of cryptocurrency and shadow banking to evade sanctions. At the center of today’s action are Iranian nationals Alireza Derakhshan and Arash Estaki Alivand, who coordinated the purchase of over $100 million worth of ... (full story)