The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against two digital asset exchanges that it said the Iranian regime relies on to launder billions of dollars, amid escalating military tensions between the two countries.

In a Friday notice, OFAC said it had taken measures against cryptocurrency exchanges Shelbit and Aban Tether for facilitating illicit cryptocurrency activity and sanctions evasion, with proceeds used to support Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The Treasury Department also sanctioned Iranian national Siavash Kayvanpour along with crypto wallets and companies tied to him, one of which operates Shelbit.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement:

"We will continue to increase the economic pressure. Whether in dollars, rials, or crypto, Treasury will hunt down and dismantle the illicit financial networks that keep the regime afloat."

According to the US Treasury, IRGC-controlled wallets sent more than $1 million in cryptocurrency to addresses tied to Shelbit. Separately, wallets linked to Kayvanpour transferred $2 million in digital assets to Nobitex, an Iranian exchange that was added to the US sanctions list in June. The agency also reported that Shelbit had facilitated the transfer of $2 million in cryptocurrency to IRGC-controlled wallets.

The sanctions target both individuals and the underlying on-chain infrastructure, reflecting a broader US enforcement strategy of designating cryptocurrency exchanges that serve as conduits for illicit finance. With most Iranian financial institutions already barred from the US dollar system, digital assets have become a documented channel for Iranian entities to move funds across borders outside traditional banking rails.

OFAC's actions represent the latest in a series of measures by the US government targeting Iran's financial infrastructure amid the ongoing military conflict between the two nations. In January, the Treasury Department designated digital asset exchanges Zedcex and Zedxio as sanctioned entities. In June, the department froze $131 million in cryptocurrency wallets linked to Iran. The progression from individual wallet designations to exchange-level sanctions illustrates an effort to disrupt the service ecosystem that enables Iranian entities to convert digital assets into other currencies.

OFAC operates under the Treasury Department and is responsible for administering and enforcing economic and trade sanctions based on US foreign policy and national security goals. Entities placed on the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list have their assets blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from conducting transactions with them. SDN designations also carry secondary sanctions exposure, meaning non-US persons or entities that conduct significant transactions with the sanctioned addresses or exchanges can themselves face US sanctions risk.