US sanctions hit Iran Revolutionary Guard currency network

The US Treasury together with the United Arab Emirates announced action to disrupt an alleged "large scale" currency exchange network run by Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

In the first such action since President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear accord, the Treasury announced sanctions against six Iranian individuals and three companies tied to the IRGC who were part of the exchange network, which it said handled "hundreds of millions" of dollars in exchange transactions.

"The Iranian regime and its Central Bank have abused access to entities in the UAE to acquire US dollars to fund the IRGC-QF's malign activities, including to fund and arm its regional proxy groups, by concealing the purpose for which the US dollars were acquired," said Treasury Secretary Steven T Mnuchin.