The U.S. Treasury has granted itself the power to sanction anyone in the world operating in Iran's digital asset sector as part of a newly announced economic campaign.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a sectoral determination covering digital assets under Executive Order 13902. This determination allows OFAC to designate any foreign person operating in or providing services to Iran's digital asset sector, regardless of their location. The measure was one of five simultaneous sectoral determinations, alongside technology, gold, aviation, and shipping, building on earlier authorities covering Iran's financial and petroleum industries.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dubbed the broader effort Operation Economic Outcast, describing its objective as severing economic lifelines sustaining the Iranian regime. The Treasury stated that the regime increasingly relies on cryptocurrency for sanctions evasion, citing transactions connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and regime insiders.
Among nearly 60 designations announced alongside the new determinations, two individuals have direct crypto links. Ukrainian national Ivan Obukhov, based in the United Arab Emirates, was accused of processing more than $100 million in cryptocurrency payments since 2023 to facilitate oil sales for the IRGC's Qods Force. Arman Kahzadian, identified as part of a group of cyber actors directed by Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security, was designated for digital asset heists after taking control of a wallet holding over $30,000 in Bitcoin in the summer of 2023.
These actions follow previous U.S. measures targeting Iranian crypto activity, including sanctions against the Nobitex exchange over terrorist financing and firms accepting Bitcoin for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian officials dismissed the campaign, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi characterizing the measures as ineffective. Meanwhile, the Iranian rial fell to a record open-market low of 2.02 million to the dollar on Monday.
