USA strikes Iran's key node: Largest cryptocurrency exchange faces tough sanctions
The United States of America has taken a major step in the field of digital and international policy. On Tuesday, June 2, the U.S. Department of the Treasury officially announced the imposition of strict sanctions on Nobitex, which is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in Iran. According to a report published by Reuters, Washington accuses the platform of operating as a key pillar of a concealed parallel financial system.
A secret financial shortcut for the regime's elites
According to a statement by U.S. authorities, the Nobitex platform was not merely an ordinary place for the public to buy and sell digital currencies. The U.S. Department of the Treasury allegedly described it as a strategic partner of the Iranian government. According to U.S. claims, the exchange was supposed to have facilitated a vast amount of digital transactions for Iran's central bank and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a closely watched and sanctioned state military institution.
This entire infrastructure was supposed to serve to transfer important assets and funds outside Iran. U.S. authorities warned that this activity intensified particularly after the start of U.S. combat operations in Iran, when the regime sought to quickly protect its wealth and assets. In this context, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sharply remarked that the Iranian regime is deliberately abusing digital assets to pursue its own corrupt agenda and evade sanctions, all at a time when Iran's domestic economy is facing a deep crisis and enormous problems.
Investigative activity
Washington's current decision did not emerge overnight. The announcement of the sanctions was preceded by an extensive Reuters investigation published as early as May 1. It was the journalists who first described in detail how the exchange became a central hub of shadow finance linked to the Revolutionary Guards and the central bank.
The investigation also uncovered one of the most compelling details of the entire case – Nobitex was able to operate without interruption even during massive government-imposed internet outages in the country. At a time when ordinary citizens were completely cut off from the network, the exchange processed transactions worth millions of USD, thereby keeping the regime's financial flows secure and constantly moving.
An influential dynasty and hidden identities
The personnel background of the entire affair, which resembles a political thriller, is also exceptionally interesting to the general public. According to Reuters' findings, the exchange is in fact controlled by two brothers from the Kharrazi family. This dynasty belongs to the most influential family lines in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and both brothers are said to have very close ties to the country's new Supreme Leader.
Official company records also revealed that when the exchange was founded, these men were listed under a surname that members of their family use only rarely, raising suspicions of deliberate identity concealment. The U.S. response therefore did not target only the platform as a whole. The Department of the Treasury imposed personal sanctions on three specific members of management, including the two aforementioned family representatives, Seyed Mohammad Ali Aghamir Mohammad Ali and Seyed Mohammad Aghamir Mohammad Ali, together with the exchange's CEO, Amir Hossein Rad.
We are prepared, the exchange said via Telegram
Since the official announcement of sanctions in Washington took place only after the end of regular working hours in Iran, Nobitex itself could not immediately be reached for a direct statement. However, the exchange's management soon addressed its customers through its official channel on the Telegram social network. In its statement, the exchange said that it had been anticipating possible complications from the United States for years. According to its words, technical and operational measures for handling such crisis situations had long been part of its strategic planning, and the platform continues its normal operations.
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