US Treasury Sanctions Eight Canadian Firms for Iran Financial Links
The US government has sanctioned eight Canadian currency-exchange businesses for allegedly helping Iran evade financial restrictions.
WASHINGTON, Nov 7: The United States Treasury has imposed sanctions on eight Canadian currency-exchange firms accused of facilitating Iran’s circumvention of financial restrictions. This action, announced as part of ‘Operation Economic Outcast’, targets firms such as Million Exchange, Amin Exchange, and Cryptoyal, based in Ontario and British Columbia.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said these businesses also engaged in money laundering by converting Iranian rials into cryptocurrencies. He stated, “Canada cannot be a safe haven for illicit financial facilitators that provide sanctions evasion services to the Iranian regime and its proxies.”
The sanctions will sever these firms from the US dollar-based financial system, freezing their assets in the US and prohibiting transactions with American citizens or entities. The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) worked with the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to implement these sanctions, emphasizing their commitment to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
In a related action, FinCEN issued an order against MEXC Global, a Seychelles-based money exchanger, for allegedly facilitating over $16 billion in illicit transactions tied to Iran and other sanctioned nations. The aim of these sanctions is to weaken the economic foundations of the Iranian regime and its military branch, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Last week, the US Treasury also targeted a network in India and Turkey that allegedly assisted Iran in evading oil export restrictions. The US government claims these measures have led to the Iranian rial hitting record lows and inflation soaring to around 90 percent.
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