⚡Tami Pigott, U.S. State Department spokesperson, reacts to the sanctions against Ali Ansari, an Iranian citizen in Dubai.

⚡Tami Pigott, U.S. State Department spokesperson, reacts to the sanctions against Ali Ansari, an Iranian citizen in Dubai.

In a statement, Pigott said: “While ordinary people in Iran are facing inflation and shortages, the elites of the [Islamic Republic] government are looting billions of dollars.”

He added: “The United States is cutting off the financial lifelines of Iran’s ruling elites.”

Pigott said the United States sanctioned three exchange networks based in Iran and Ali Ansari, a person based in Dubai, who “has created a global real estate empire for the leader of the Islamic Republic, Khamenei.”