WASHINGTON: Babak Zanjani sanctions expanded on July 24 as the US Treasury designated four people and nine entities across Iran, Turkey and the UAE over an alleged sanctions-evasion network.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said the network used financial services, precious metals, digital assets, transportation and infrastructure projects to obscure ownership and move funds through Iran and offshore.
Six designated entities belong to Zanjani’s Iran-based Dot One conglomerate: Dot One Value Creation Group, DotOne Gold Company, DotOne Rail Company, DotOne Barter Company, DotOne Airlines Company and DotOne Trip.
OFAC also designated Istanbul-based Zedpay Finansal Sistem Ve Hizmetleri Anonim Sirketi, Dubai-based Zedx DMCC and BZ Diamond FZCO.
The Treasury action said the companies supported Zanjani’s previously sanctioned Zedcex and Zedxion digital asset exchanges.
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The four designated individuals are Zedpay chairperson Mehdi Rezazadeh, Zedx manager Sukhrob Oimakhmadov, BZ Diamond manager Bahareh Morteza Zanjani and Solmaz Bani, who allegedly registered websites for Zanjani-linked companies.
Treasury said digital addresses attributed to Zedcex and Zedxion had processed funds for wallets linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The department alleged that the exchanges formed part of a broader financial infrastructure supporting sanctions evasion and Iranian state-linked entities.
The designations block any US-based property belonging to the listed parties and generally prohibit US persons from engaging in transactions involving them. Entities owned 50% or more by blocked persons are also subject to restrictions under OFAC rules.
OFAC previously sanctioned Zanjani, Zedcex and Zedxion on January 30. Iranian authorities sentenced Zanjani to death in 2016 over an embezzlement conviction before commuting the sentence in 2024, according to the Treasury.
