The US Treasury announced sanctions on Friday on a Turkey-based bank and two of its subsidiaries, accusing them of moving tens of millions of dollars on behalf of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and facilitating Tehran's movement of funds across the international banking system.
“"Financial institutions continue to find out the hard way that we are serious about Operation Economic Outcast," US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. "We know who you are, we know where you are, and we will continue to take action together with our allies and partners until we have buried the head of the Iranian snake."
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) named Golden Global Yatirim Bankasi Anonim Sirketi, alongside its two Istanbul-based units, Golden Global Varlik Kiralama Anonim Sirketi and Golden Global Portfoy Yonetimi Anonim Sirketi.
OFAC alleges the bank was created to help Iranian oil revenues reach Turkey from China, where exchangers converted the funds into cash and gold, and accuses it of opening correspondent banking to Iranian institutions through accounts under Quds Force control.
The sanctions come as part of Washington's Operation Economic Outcast, a campaign to economically asphyxiate Iran by cutting off its remaining revenue and severing the channels it uses to move money abroad.
Bessent told Reuters on August 30 that fresh secondary sanctions would follow every week, with banks first in line. He said the Treasury was telling lenders it was not acceptable to hold Iranian money or assist the government in Tehran, and indicated the next escalation could mean severing an institution from the dollar system altogether.
Days earlier, the Treasury barred the UAE branches of Egypt's Banque Misr from dollar access over alleged Iranian links.
Speaking ahead of the G20 finance meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, Bessent threatened ministers and central bank governors to break their economic ties with Iran or face secondary sanctions of their own, warning that no leakage would be tolerated.
The sanctions come as part of Washington’s "Economic D-Day," an economic strangulation campaign launched after Washington failed to achieve its military objectives against Iran.
"In the Second World War, D-Day marked the historic beginning of a campaign with our allies to target and drive the enemy from its positions, including those in third countries. Today, in that same spirit, we are launching an economic onslaught against Iran’s financial connections around the globe. Our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains this tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone," Bessent had said.
"President Trump has taken action that his predecessors have long deferred. Under his leadership, America is no longer managing the Iranian threat. We are ending it. Those who stand with the United States will reap the rewards of our partnership. Those who tether themselves to Tehran should expect to share in the isolation of a withering regime," he had also said.