US sanctions prominent Russian bank is says does business with Iranian regime

The U.S. Treasury Department announced new sanctions against Russia's VTB Bank on Monday, citing its involvement in evading Iranian sanctions and forming relationships with Iranian banks. The Treasury stated it "has mapped the networks, facilitators and financial channels that Iran uses to smuggle oil, evade sanctions and fund terror." Scott Bessent, the U.S. Treasury Secretary, affirmed that the department "will continue to target and disrupt those who provide material, technological or financial support that allows the Iranian regime to sustain its terrorist enterprise." The sanctions aim to increase secondary sanctions risk for entities continuing business with the Iranian regime, with VTB now considered among the most comprehensively sanctioned financial institutions globally.