The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned two major cryptocurrency exchanges used by the Islamic Republic of Iran and Saivosh Kiyvanpour, the operator of a network of companies in several countries, for transferring digital assets, evading sanctions, and providing financing for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

According to this statement, Kiyvanpour, born in Iran and holding dual citizenship of Dominica and Afghanistan, operates the “Shalbbit” exchange through a company in Georgia. IRGC cryptocurrency addresses transferred more than one million dollars to Shalbbit, and more than two million dollars were also transferred from Shalbbit to these addresses. Addresses belonging to or controlled by Kiyvanpour also transferred more than two million dollars to the sanctioned exchange “Nobitex.”

OFAC also sanctioned companies associated with Kiyvanpour, including “Shalbbit General Trading,” “Shalbbit Technologies,” “Crypto Home,” and “NFT Home.”

The “Aban Tether” exchange was also sanctioned for operating in the financial sector of Iran’s economy. The Treasury Department said this exchange processed millions of dollars in transactions related to Nobitex, Valex, Bitpion, and Zermynex, Iranian exchanges that are under sanctions.