In a decisive blow against Iran’s terror-financing empire, the Trump administration sanctioned Iranian financiers and dozens of front companies laundering $100 million in cryptocurrency — funds that fueled Tehran’s military threats against Israel and the West.
The Trump administration delivered a devastating strike at the heart of Iran’s shadow economy, sanctioning two top Iranian financiers and more than a dozen individuals and front companies in Hong Kong and the UAE. The network was exposed as a sophisticated laundering scheme funneling over $100 million in cryptocurrency directly into the coffers of the ayatollahs.
The masterminds, Iranian nationals Alireza Derakhshan and Arash Estaki Alivand, engineered the digital laundering system to bypass sanctions, converting oil revenues into crypto and moving the funds through a spider web of shell corporations. The money was then redirected to Iran’s military, terror proxies, and regional destabilization campaigns — the same war machine that arms Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad against Israel.
According to Chainalysis, sanctioned regimes like Iran raked in $15.8 billion in cryptocurrency in 2024 alone, representing nearly 40% of all illicit global crypto flows. This proves that Tehran has weaponized digital currencies as much as rockets and drones.
Treasury Under Secretary John K. Hurley made it clear:
“The US will continue to disrupt these key financial streams that fund Iran’s weapons programs and malign activities in the Middle East and beyond.”
The sanctions freeze assets, block access to US markets, and sever all business with American firms — choking Iran’s ability to convert crypto profits into conventional weapons.
This action comes just weeks after France, Britain, and Germany activated the UN “snapback” mechanism, reinstating full sanctions on Iran for defying the failed 2015 nuclear deal. Meanwhile, negotiations for a new deal remain frozen after Israel and the US delivered a 12-day bombardment of Iran’s nuclear and military sites, crippling key facilities.
Iran’s leaders still posture for renewed talks, but their bottom line is unchanged: they will not give up their missile program — the very arsenal pointed at Israel’s cities.
By targeting Iran’s shadow banking empire, the US has reinforced a critical truth: every dollar stolen through crypto laundering is a dollar aimed at Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and the free world.
