{"id":4213,"date":"2026-07-11T10:37:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T10:37:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=4213"},"modified":"2026-07-11T10:37:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T10:37:15","slug":"trump-admin-sanctions-irans-supreme-leader-mojtaba-khameneis-shadowy-financial-backers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=4213","title":{"rendered":"Trump admin sanctions Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei’s shadowy financial backers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent imposed sanctions Friday on Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei\u2019s alleged Dubai-based moneyman Ali Ansari, three Iranian currency exchanges and alleged front companies in Hong Kong and the UAE that link Tehran\u2019s banks to the global economic system.<\/p>\n

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Bessent announced the latest financial squeeze following two nights of resumed US airstrikes on Iran and a third conducted by an unknown country \u2014 prompted by Iranian attacks Monday and Tuesday on three commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe so-called Supreme Leader is hiding in seclusion while his regime crumbles. Treasury will continue using every tool at its disposal to isolate him and other regime elites from the global financial system,\u201d Bessent said. \u201cWe will preserve these assets for the Iranian people.\u201d<\/p>\n

A statement from the Treasury Department, which has led a so-called Operation Economic Fury to support President Trump\u2019s military effort to force Iran to relinquish its nuclear program, says Ansari \u201coversees a sprawling global network of assets benefitting Iran\u2019s leader.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnsari\u00a0has effectively institutionalized large\u2011scale embezzlement within the Iranian regime, diverting publicly funded wealth into an extensive overseas portfolio of real estate and commercial holdings,\u201d the department said.<\/p>\n

He previously owned the US-sanctioned and Tehran-based Ayandeh Bank, which went bust last year after racking up billions in losses \u2014 before Mojtaba, then known as the influential \u201cpower behind the robes,\u201d succeeded his aging and ultimately assassinated father as supreme leader.<\/p>\n

The bank \u201cracked up billions in debt as it issued loans backed by the Central Bank of Iran to Ansari\u2019s own companies and commercial ventures in Iran\u2026 using his publicly funded wealth to simultaneously expand an overseas business empire on behalf of Mojtaba Khamenei,\u201d the Treasury Department said.<\/p>\n

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Through a company registered in Saint Kitts and Nevis, the banker has since 2011 allegedly scooped up property and investments in Cyprus, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, the UAE and the UK.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough held in Ansari\u2019s name, many of these financial interests are ultimately held for the financial benefit of Mojtaba Khamenei, his family, and other Iranian elites,\u201d the department said.<\/p>\n

In a further attempt to pinch off Iran\u2019s financial links, the Treasury announced that institutions that exchange currency and two international partner organizations would face sanctions \u2014 effectively disconnecting them from the US-governed global banking system and freezing any assets within reach.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese exchange houses move and maintain the equivalent of billions of dollars annually on behalf of sanctioned Iranian banks, which transact through vast layers of cover and shell companies that conceal the sanctioned Iranian commercial parties ultimately behind these transactions,\u201d the department said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHong Kong-based\u00a0CDM Trading Limited\u00a0is a front company which has been used to conduct financial transactions by multiple Iranian exchange houses, to include Mohsen Khandan and Partners General Partnership Company.\u00a0\u00a0Similarly,\u00a0Naba Alzaki Raw Materials Trading LLC\u00a0is a UAE-based front company which has been used by Mohsen Khandan and Partners General Partnership Company as part of Iran\u2019s rahbar network.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more US demands Iran issue public statement proclaiming Strait of Hormuz open \u2014 or else<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

All five of the businesses were hit with sanctions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent imposed sanctions Friday on Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei’s alleged Dubai-based moneyman Ali Ansari, three Iranian currency exchanges and alleged front companies in Hong Kong and the UAE that link Tehran’s banks to the global economic system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4212,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump admin sanctions Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei's shadowy financial backers - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=4213\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump admin sanctions Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei's shadowy financial backers - 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