The United States has imposed sanctions on two Iranian digital asset exchanges and an individual accused of operating a network of front companies used to facilitate cryptocurrency transactions, sanctions evasion and money laundering on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other groups, the US Treasury Department said.

The action was announced by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which said Iranian actors had exploited unlicensed or lightly regulated cryptocurrency exchange platforms to move large volumes of digital assets, The Caspian Post reports.

According to the Treasury, the network operated through a broad web of companies across multiple jurisdictions, as well as an online gambling business that helped conceal the origin of funds and ultimately launder proceeds for the benefit of the IRGC and individuals linked to the Iranian regime.

“The Iranian regime’s reliance on digital assets and shadow banking networks is further evidence that Economic Fury is working,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “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.”

The latest measures are part of Washington’s broader sanctions campaign against Iran under President Donald Trump’s National Security Presidential Memorandum 2, which calls for a policy of maximum economic pressure on Tehran.

OFAC said it developed the action in coordination with the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation. The State Department’s Rewards for Justice program is also offering up to $15 million for information leading to the disruption of the IRGC’s financial mechanisms and its various branches.

US authorities said more than $2 million was transferred from accounts belonging to Shelbit to a digital address associated with the IRGC. Shelbit denied the allegations, saying on its website that the exchange had ceased operations in January.

Another exchange, Aban Tether, allegedly processed millions of dollars in transactions for the IRGC in cooperation with other Iranian cryptocurrency exchanges that had already been sanctioned by Washington, including Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin and Ramzinex.

The Treasury said the measures are intended to target financial networks that Tehran allegedly uses to maintain access to international financial systems and support the IRGC and other sanctioned actors.