Trump admin sanctions Iranian billionaire Babak Zanjani’s business network

The U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned key components of Iranian billionaire Babak Zanjani’s sanctions-evasion network on Friday, targeting four individuals and nine entities tied to his Dot One conglomerate. Zanjani, who was sentenced to death in Iran in 2016 for embezzlement but had his sentence commuted in 2024, has been accused of using his network to obscure ownership, launder revenue, and covertly move funds. The newly designated entities, located in Iran, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates, include companies involved in financial services, precious metals, transportation, and digital assets, which Treasury claims supported Zanjani’s previously sanctioned digital asset exchanges and laundered funds for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated, “The Iranian regime continues to pay a steep economic price for its reckless behavior.”