💸 Crypto With an Iranian Accent

Iran has long used crypto to dodge sanctions — and the U.S. has long been watching. Treasury just put Shelbit Exchange and Aban Tether on the SDN list: assets frozen, anyone still dealing with them risks secondary sanctions.

The key figure is Siavash Kayvanpour, operating out of the UAE and Georgia. His Shelbit moved crypto for Iranian military-linked wallets — $1M in, $2M out, plus another $2M to the already-sanctioned Nobitex. Aban Tether ran millions through a chain of blacklisted Iranian platforms.

The UAE regulator had warned Shelbit twice. The exchange kept going. The third warning came from Treasury. Per Decrypt, the U.S. has seized roughly $1 billion in Iranian crypto since the campaign began.

Two formal warnings, zero response. The SDN list proved more persuasive.