US sanctions key Iranian financier after renewed Strait of Hormuz attacks

A cargo ship sails near Ajman as Hormuz traffic drops amid tensions. Pic/ AFP

The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on Dubai-based Iranian "financier" Ali Ansari, following Tehran's resumption of attacks on international shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

The US Treasury Department described Ansari as a "key financier" for Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, and accused him of large-scale, institutionalised embezzlement within the Iranian regime.

"Today, following Iran's resumption of attacks on international shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took action against Iranian financial facilitator Ali Ansari, who oversees a sprawling global network of assets benefiting Iran's leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, and other regime elites," the Treasury Department said in an official release.

"Ansari has effectively institutionalised large-scale embezzlement within the Iranian regime, diverting publicly funded wealth into an extensive overseas portfolio of real estate and commercial holdings to enrich himself, regime elites, including notable senior figures within the Supreme Leader's Office, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)," the statement added.

According to the Treasury Department, Ansari built his reputation by institutionalising embezzlement within the regime. He amassed a global network of investment properties and financial holdings, both on behalf of Mojtaba Khamenei and for his own self-serving interests, leveraging his close ties to regime elites to enrich himself and his allies at the expense of the Iranian people.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent welcomed the move, stating that these assets would be preserved for the Iranian people.

"The so-called Supreme Leader is hiding in seclusion while his regime crumbles. The Treasury will continue using every tool at its disposal to isolate him and other regime elites from the global financial system. We will preserve these assets for the Iranian people," Bessent wrote on X.

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