The US Treasury is sanctioning Dubai-based businessman Ali Ansari and a network of front companies and Iranian exchange houses accused of funneling billions to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders, freezing their assets and cutting their access to the US-led global banking system.The Office of Foreign Assets Control blocked interests tied to Smart Global Limited, CDM Trading Limited and Naba Alzaki Raw Materials Trading LLC, and designated Iranian partners including Mohammad Darbani and Mohsen Khandan for running exchange houses that moved foreign currency through cover entities and diverted public funds into overseas real estate and corporate holdings.The measures follow recent Iranian attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and subsequent US airstrikes, the revocation of
Iran’s oil export license and continued US naval deployments, and Treasury Secretary
Scott Bessent says the steps aim to preserve assets for the Iranian people while further isolating Khamenei and his network.