United States Sanctions Seven Individuals and Entities for Allegedly Smuggling American Technology to Iran's Central Bank

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced on Friday, March 16, sanctions against a network comprising three individuals and four entities for facilitating the illegal export of U.S. goods and technology to the Islamic Republic, including Iran's Central Bank. The statement referenced previous sanctions against Iran's Central Bank for its role in providing financial support to the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah in Lebanon, stating that the goods and technology transferred to Iran's Central Bank included items subject to national security and anti-terrorism controls by the Department of Commerce. The sanctioned entities include: Informatics Services Company based in Iran, a subsidiary of the Central National Bank and its technology arm overseeing the interbank information exchange network, Shetab, and also linked to Iran's electronic payment card network, Shaparak. Advanced Banking Solution Trading DMCC based in the United Arab Emirates, which is a front company for Informatics Services Company, has purchased U.S. goods and technology indirectly from third-party vendors for final transfer to Iran's Central Bank. Seyed Abotaleb Najafi, the executive director of Informatics Services Company, who oversaw and approved the company's illegal access to items. Mohammad Reza Khademi and his company, Freedom Star General Trading Co., which facilitated the shipment of goods from the UAE to Iran. Ted Teknoloji Gelistirme Hizmetleri Sanayi Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, a public joint-stock company based in Turkey, which acts as a representative of Informatics Services Company in Turkey and has acquired U.S. goods and technology in coordination with the front companies of this company. Pouria Mirahmadi, a dual Iranian-French citizen involved in the activities of this Turkey-based company. Brian Nelson, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, noted that the financial support of Iran's Central Bank to the Quds Force and Hezbollah in Lebanon is destabilizing actors in the Middle East, stating that the United States will continue to use all available tools to disrupt the Islamic Republic's illegal efforts to obtain sensitive U.S. technology.