Just as our military is not out of firepower in its campaign against Iran, neither is the United States Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). As RedState reported in July, OFAC sanctioned six foreign entities and individuals who have been aiding and abetting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in their Iran conflict campaigns against the U.S. and Israel.
Now OFAC has targeted all IRGC electronic and digital assets, from dollars, to rials, to cryptocurrency.
The Iranian regime’s reliance on digital assets and shadow banking networks is further evidence that Economic Fury is working. We will continue to increase the economic pressure. Whether in dollars, rials, or crypto, Treasury will hunt down and dismantle the illicit financial… https://t.co/phPYBx4Zxr
— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) August 7, 2026
Bessent's post on X read:
The Iranian regime’s reliance on digital assets and shadow banking networks is further evidence that Economic Fury is working. 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.
And the department's post read:
Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is moving against digital asset exchanges that the Iranian regime relies on to launder billions of dollars, maintain covert access to international financial systems, and support the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), among other terrorist groups. This action targets two major digital asset exchanges used by Tehran, along with the ringleader of a network of front companies operating across multiple jurisdictions, facilitating illicit cryptocurrency activity and sanctions evasion. Iranian actors exploited unlicensed or lightly regulated digital currency exchange platforms to transfer large volumes of digital assets. They executed this scheme through sprawling corporate networks and an extensive online gambling enterprise that obscured the origin of the funds and ultimately laundered the illicit proceeds for the benefit of the IRGC and regime‑connected individuals.
READ MORE: Economic Warfare Against Iran Continues, As Treasury Neuters Financial Conduits Linked to IRGC
US Launches More Airstrikes Against Iran As Pressure on Regime Steps Up, May Be Near 'Tipping Point'
The OFAC exposed one odious character named Siavash Kayvanpour, who is parked in the United Arab Emirates, and runs a network of companies that span internationally which support nefarious activity surrounding digital currency. Kayvanpour owns one operation called the Shelbit Exchange, which contained digital currency addresses belonging to the IRGC. Shelbit Exchange has sent the equivalent of over one million dollars in digital assets from the IRGC digital addresses to the Shelbit Exchange, and more than the equivalent of two million in digital assets was transferred from the Shelbit Exchange to the IRGC digital addresses. Kayvanpour has also sent over two million in digital assets to a U.S.-designated company called Nobitex.
Treasury's statement continued:
Kayvanpour is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of the IRGC and Nobitex, which are both persons whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to E.O. 13224.
Shelbit services a large Persian-language gambling website network run by a pair of Iranian influencers who live luxurious lives outside of Iran. Tens of millions of dollars of this gambling network’s digital assets were laundered through Shelbit. Although the two Iranian influencers were convicted of illegal gambling in Iran in 2023, their gambling websites still have access to Iran’s online payments systems, which the Central Bank of Iran tightly regulates. The Iranian regime’s willingness to allow this gambling network to operate highlights its hypocrisy and corruption.
Kayvanpour's tentacles are also embedded in several shadow companies, including the UAE-based Shelbit General Trading LLC (General Trading) (which operates commercially as the “Shelbit Exchange”), Poland-based Shelbit Technologies Ltd Spółka Z Ograniczoną Odpowiedzialnością W Likwidacji (Shelbit Technologies Ltd.), along with the UAE-based companies: Crypto Home DMCC (Crypto Home) and NFT Home DMCC (NFT Home). OFAC has these companies on the target list, it wrote.
Aban Tether is another Iran-based digital asset exchange. It has processed millions of dollars' worth of transactions involving previously designated Iranian digital asset exchanges, including Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin, and Ramzinex. OFAC is designating Aban Tether pursuant to E.O. 13902 for operating in the financial sector of the Iranian economy.
OFAC's noose around Iran's neck continues to tighten. This may be the reason behind the Iranian leadership's newfound desire to restart negotiations.
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
Help RedState continue to report on the Democrats’ radicalism and inform voters as our nation faces a crossroads. Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member