Billions of dollars linked to Iran are continuing to pass through US banks each year, despite sanctions intended to cut Tehran off from the international financial system, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
The funds are understood to reach American lenders indirectly through foreign banks with correspondent relationships in the US. Shell companies and currency exchanges can obscure the Iranian connection before dollar-denominated transactions are settled through clearing accounts.
The US Treasury identified about $9 billion in Iranian funds that moved through American banks in 2024, the report said, citing Western officials and researchers.
Iranian funds routed through foreign banks
The transactions highlight the difficulty of enforcing sanctions across a global banking network. Iranian-linked entities can operate through jurisdictions including Dubai and Hong Kong, using foreign institutions with access to US correspondent banking services.
Washington has stepped up efforts to disrupt those channels under Operation Economic Outcast, a campaign aimed at restricting Iran’s access to dollars and the wider international financial system.
On 28 August, the US Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed cutting off the UAE branch of Egypt’s state-owned Banque Misr from correspondent accounts held with US financial institutions. Treasury officials said the branch had processed about $1.8 billion between January 2024 and June 2026 for 103 companies potentially linked to Iranian shadow-banking networks.
The department said the bank’s customers included apparent front companies used by Iran’s Ministry of Defence and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as well as entities allegedly involved in laundering money for Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.
Banque Misr UAE maintained dollar accounts with three US banks, according to the Treasury, which did not name them. The bank’s website lists JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup among its correspondent institutions; both declined to comment on the action.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US would target institutions that enabled Iran to evade sanctions and warned that financial firms could lose access to the American banking system.
Iran has increasingly used China’s yuan and cryptocurrencies to reduce its exposure to US scrutiny. However, the dollar remains important for some international trade, technology purchases and other transactions, leaving Tehran reliant on intermediaries able to connect it to the US financial system.
