The US added four crypto wallets linked to Iran’s central bank to its sanctions list after a ceasefire deal between the two countries collapsed and air and drone strikes resumed.
The four Tron blockchain wallets had received more than $165 million in stablecoins, according to Chainalysis. Tether blocked $131 million in USDT held by the accounts, even though some of the funds had moved before the freeze.
Sanctioning the wallets gives exchanges, custodians and compliance firms a clear set of addresses to screen for. Iran’s central bank has accumulated at least $507 million in USDT, according to Elliptic, using the token to support the rial.
The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has said its published wallet lists are not exhaustive, meaning other addresses controlled by the bank may still qualify as blocked property.
Tuesday’s OFAC update expands an existing designation rather than imposing new penalties. Iran’s central bank has been blocked under US counterterrorism authorization since 2019 because of its support for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force and Hezbollah.
