The U.S. Treasury is expanding sanctions pressure on Iranian crypto exchanges: Shelbit and Aban Tether are under attack.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Friday announced blocking sanctions against two Iranian cryptocurrency exchanges — Shelbit and Aban Tether — as well as against network operator Siavash Keyvanpour. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) directly links these entities to financial flows serving the interests of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). This is another step in Washington's systematic campaign to isolate Iran's crypto infrastructure, which has already faced restrictions multiple times this year.
Transfer scheme through Shelbit: millions in IRGC accounts
As OFAC data shows, addresses linked to the IRGC transferred more than $1 million to the Shelbit exchange, while over $2 million returned to the Guards Corps wallets. Apparently, we are witnessing a classic scheme of cashing out and churning funds through crypto channels using shell jurisdictions.
Keyvanpour, who managed Shelbit from Georgia, created fictitious companies in Poland and the UAE. His wallets also sent more than $2 million to Nobitex — Iran's largest exchange, which has been under U.S. blocking sanctions since June. In addition, Shelbit was used to launder tens of millions of dollars linked to a gambling network. Earlier, journalists had come across information about transfers from Shelbit to Binance totaling $676 million, highlighting the scale of the operations.
Aban Tether and the intensifying campaign
The Aban Tether exchange, in turn, processed payments worth millions of dollars through previously blocked services, including Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin, and Ramzinex. The Treasury cites Executive Order 13902, which targets Iran's financial sector. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated in this regard: "With dollars, rials, or cryptocurrency — the department will crack down on any shadow financial networks."
It is evident that the U.S. is implementing a strategy of "maximum pressure" on Tehran under the NSPM-2 directive. Notably, stablecoin issuers have in the past promptly frozen Iranian wallets after they were added to sanctions lists, making such measures particularly painful for the local crypto ecosystem.
My analysis: This is not a one-off action but a systematic push to squeeze Iran out of the global crypto economy. The signal to the market is clear: any services, even indirectly connected to sanctioned jurisdictions, are under OFAC's microscope. Industry participants should reconsider their compliance procedures, especially regarding work with peer-to-peer and over-the-counter channels — otherwise, anyone could be next on the list.