US sanctions Dubai crypto exchange for aiding Iran’s Revolutionary Guards
The United States on Friday sanctioned an unlicensed multi-state cryptocurrency exchange, alleging it processed millions of dollars of crypto for Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other groups linked to the Iranian state.The designation follows a Reuters investigation published on July 31 that identified the Dubai-based exchange, Shelbit, as the hub of a $4 billion Iranian sanctions evasion scheme. The investigation found that Shelbit moved crypto on behalf of Iran’s central bank, one of the world’s largest illegal online gambling networks, and to addresses linked by the Israeli government to the IRGC.The US Treasury also sanctioned the expatriate Iranian who founded Shelbit and a network of other companies, Siavash Kayvanpour, for providing material support to the IRGC and Nobitex, Iran’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange. The US sanctioned Nobitex on June 2 for enabling the Iranian government to circumvent Western sanctions, also after a Reuters investigation.“Treasury will hunt down and dismantle…
The United States sanctioned Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange Shelbit and its founder, Siavash Kayvanpour, on Friday for allegedly processing millions of dollars for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other Iranian state-linked groups. This action follows a Reuters investigation on July 31 that identified Shelbit as central to a $4 billion Iranian sanctions evasion scheme. The US Treasury also sanctioned Aban Tether, an Iran-based crypto exchange, for transactions with sanctioned Iranian entities, including Nobitex, which was sanctioned in June. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent stated, "Treasury will hunt down and dismantle the illicit financial networks that keep the regime afloat." Shelbit, which had reactivated its website after the Reuters report, denied knowingly participating in illegal activities and claimed to have ceased operations in January 2026.
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