Iran
U.S. imposes sanctions on Russian bank VTB for aiding the regime of the ayatollahs
The U.S. Treasury Department announced that VTB, one of Russia's largest banks, established connections with Iranian financial institutions under sanctions and helped transfer billions of dollars of frozen Iranian assets. Washington warned foreign financial institutions against continuing activity with the bank
· Source: Walla. Photo as published in article
The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on VTB, one of Russia's largest banks, claiming it aided the regime of the ayatollahs in circumventing U.S. sanctions and transferring billions of dollars from frozen Iranian assets.
The U.S. Treasury Department announced that it imposed sanctions on VTB, one of Russia's largest banks, claiming it aided the regime of the ayatollahs in circumventing U.S. sanctions. According to the announcement, the bank established banking connections with Iranian financial institutions already under sanctions, worked to expand its activities in Tehran and helped transfer billions of dollars from frozen Iranian assets.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. will continue to identify, expose and isolate entities assisting Iran. According to him, foreign financial institutions that continue to operate with VTB could expose themselves to U.S. sanctions.
Bessent added that the Treasury Department is calling on informants to report on Iran's financing pipelines, noting that anyone with actionable information on those pipelines could be entitled to a reward regardless of where they live or who employs them.
According to reports, the move was carried out as part of a U.S. operation launched last month aimed at severing Iran's sources of financing.
