The U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions Friday on a Dubai-based Iranian financier accused of managing a global network of assets for Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, along with three Iranian exchange houses that move billions of dollars annually on behalf of sanctioned Iranian banks.
The designations come as Iran has resumed attacks on international shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, and follow the death of the elder Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in U.S. and Israeli airstrikes in February 2026. Mojtaba Khamenei, his son, has since assumed the role of Supreme Leader.
“The so-called Supreme Leader is hiding in seclusion while his regime crumbles,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. “Treasury will continue using every tool at its disposal to isolate him and other regime elites from the global financial system. We will preserve these assets for the Iranian people.”
At the center of Friday’s action is Ali Ansari, a Dubai-based Iranian national whom Treasury described as having institutionalized large-scale embezzlement within the Iranian regime. Ansari was previously the owner and director of Ayandeh Bank, a U.S.-sanctioned Iranian bank that racked up billions in debt by issuing loans to Ansari’s own companies before the Iranian government forced its dissolution in mid-October 2025. While that embezzlement was driving up inflation and damaging the Iranian economy, Treasury said Ansari was simultaneously using the diverted funds to build an overseas real estate and commercial empire on behalf of Mojtaba Khamenei.
Using shell companies and bank accounts across multiple jurisdictions, Ansari accumulated holdings under Smart Global Limited, a Saint Kitts and Nevis-based holding company established in 2011, with investments in real estate and commercial properties across Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, the United Kingdom, Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates and elsewhere. Treasury said many of those holdings ultimately benefit Mojtaba Khamenei, his family and other regime elites and IRGC officials who have shielded Ansari from accountability. Britain previously sanctioned Ansari for his role in supporting the Revolutionary Guards. Both Ansari and Smart Global Limited were designated Friday.
Treasury also sanctioned three Iranian exchange houses and their controlling partners for moving and holding the equivalent of billions of dollars annually on behalf of sanctioned Iranian banks. Mohammad Darbani and Partners Exchange has facilitated hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign currency transactions for sanctioned banks and held tens of millions in foreign currency as of early 2026. Lavasani and Partners General Partnership has contracted with eight sanctioned Iranian banks and held hundreds of millions in foreign currency. Mohsen Khandan and Partners General Partnership holds more than $117 million in foreign currency on behalf of multiple sanctioned Iranian banks.
Two front companies were also designated: Hong Kong-based CDM Trading Limited and UAE-based Naba Alzaki Raw Materials Trading LLC, both used by the exchange houses to conduct transactions and obscure the Iranian parties behind them.
The sanctions were taken under executive orders targeting Iran’s financial sector, the Supreme Leader’s network and the Revolutionary Guards. Iran has said it is prepared for an “all-out defense” if the United States violates the memorandum of understanding agreed between the two countries last month, which included a U.S. commitment not to impose new sanctions.